Roses And Their Thorns
by PJ XD
Summary: Rose and Scorpius: never has a couple ever had a more complicated history. A companion to A Scorpius' Sting, can be read before or after. RW/SM
1. New Friends

_**A/N: So here it is, Scorpius and Rose's complicated history in a series of one-shots. They will be in both POVs, and if you haven't read A Scorpius' Sting, some of it might not make much sense... hint, hint. ;) Anyway, enjoy!**_

**Scorpius**

_First Year, First Term_

Five days into my first year and it was official. People in Hogwarts hated me. I didn't quite know what happened... one minute, I was talking and laughing on the train with two people who just might have been my friends, and the next minute I had sat on a stool in front of an unfriendly audience, had a hat jammed on my head, and all of a sudden everyone was treating me like a pariah. The worst part was, I knew this would happen. I had been prepared for it when I got on the train, and then Rose and Albus had come along and been all nice, and I had forgotten. I had forgotten that people would whisper, and that everyone would skirt around me in the corridors as though I was a bad smell.

So that made it all the worse when they did. It was really nasty, a lot of the stuff. They started subtly, whispering, sniggering. Then it became 'accidentally' tripping me up on the way to class. The Gryffindor fourth years threw puking pastilles at me as I passed.

It was a blessing in a curse that I was put into Slytherin. Whereas the rest of the school hated me, all the Slytherins treated me civilly, while some even treated me with some sort of reverence. They almost looked up to me because of my family's sordid past, in a sick way. It was almost as bad as the bullying, but at least they would smile.

I dashed into Herbology a few minutes late – some fifth year Ravenclaws had 'mislaid' my map – and was dismayed to find that the rest of the class had filed in without me. They were in the process of taking seats, and as it was Slytherins and Gryffindors, I sighed and dragged my feet towards the back desk. It was two a desk, and Sarah Pucey and Sophie Avery would always sit together, and so would Celestica Montague and Rowan Flint, Ferdinand Goyle and Dashell Nott.

That just left me. Me and the Gryffindors. And there was no way in hell any of them would sit with me.

Or so I thought.

There was someone waving enthusiastically at me. A ginger, freckle-nosed, wide-smiled, pretty, _Gryffindor_ someone. Rose Weasley.

I checked behind me to make sure she was really waving at me. She was.

"Scorpius!" she called, gesturing frantically to the empty seat at her side. I blinked stupidly, but the mirage of a friendly face didn't vanish. She was still beckoning me over.

"Oi, mate, are you coming over here or what?" I spotted Albus, sitting behind Rose with a sandy-haired boy I didn't know. I decided that they actually must have been speaking to me, so, ignoring the astonished gazes of the Slytherins burning a hole in my back, I sidled over to Rose and dropped my books onto the vacant space at the table.

"Hi, Scorpius!" Rose greeted me cheerily, as if I had made her day by coming to sit beside her. "This is Kian Finnigan, I don't know if you've met him. Aren't you excited about taking Herbology?"

Truthfully, I wasn't excited about anything, but Rose's enthusiasm was contagious. I grinned at her, and replied, "It will be fun."

"We have to sit together for the whole year, okay?" she said, almost glaring at me in her attempt to be commanding. I nodded.

"Okay, that's fine." It was a bit more than fine. At least I had somewhere to sit for one of my lessons.

"Do you have Defence Against The Dark Arts with us?" she asked brightly, checking her own timetable. "Ooh, good, yes, you do! And..."

"Rosie, jeez, let him breathe," Albus laughed, and Rose turned scarlet, shutting up instantly. I felt bad. Poor Rose was only trying to be nice, and I really was appreciating the eagerness to be my friend. It was a rare thing.

"It's okay," I whispered to her. "Ignore him." She raised her eyes to meet mine and smiled widely. She really was very pretty when she smiled.

"So, Scor..." Albus dragged out my name, and I was secretly thrilled that he'd nicknamed me already. "Tell me... are you gonna try out for Quidditch?"

"Hell yeah," I responded, twisting round in my seat to grin at him. "I can't wait!"

"Seeker?" Kian guessed. I nodded.

"You're trying out for Chaser, right?" He looked the right build. He nodded eagerly. "And you're going for Seeker, too?" I asked Albus. Albus grinned.

"That's right, Scor... and I'm gonna thrash you in our first match. Slytherin is going down!"

"Whatever, Al. I could fly circles around you!" I scoffed.

"Ooh, fighting talk!" he razzed me, and we both burst out laughing. "I dunno if I could be as good as Teddy though," he allowed, ducking his head.

"Are you joking? You're a Potter! Quidditch is in your blood!" Kian told him, clapping him on the back. Albus grinned cheerfully.

"Yup, I s'pose."

I turned to Rose, suddenly becoming aware that she might be feeling ignored.

"What about you, Rose? Are you gonna try out?"

She stared at me for a few seconds with wide, deep blue eyes, not answering my question. Then she slowly shook her head.

"No," she sighed. "I'm no good at Quidditch. I inherited my mother's gene."

"Aw. Well, what are you good at?"

"Reading, pretty much," she admitted, looking embarrassed.

"What are you reading at the moment?" I asked, interested. I liked reading, too.

"Um... it's a muggle book... Lord of the Rings?" she seemed to be asking for my approval, but I didn't hesitate to give it to her. I loved that book.

"Which book are you on?" I asked, leaning forwards again to show I genuinely wanted to be a part of the conversation.

"The Fellowship Of The Ring..." she said slowly, and then her eyes hardened slightly. "But I only just started."

Instantly, a piece of her character clicked into place. She was competitive.

"That's cool," I replied, deciding not to inform her that I had read the trilogy already. "Have you read The Hobbit?"

Her eyes lit up, and I knew I had made the right move. "Yes, I loved it! It had so much adventure, and it's so clever because..."

But why it was so clever I had no idea, because at that point, the gangly professor entered the greenhouse, spotting Rose and winking at her.

"Good morning, ladies and gents. I'm Professor Longbottom, and I'm..."

"The guy who cut the head off You-Know-Who's snake!" one of the Gryffindors bellowed, and a cacophony of shouting followed. He held his hands up for quiet, laughing.

"Yes, yes, but _apart_ from that, I'm your Herbology teacher."

As we settled down into our Herbology lesson, I found it very easy to talk to Rose. I just had to avoid making anything a competition. We laughed and chatted constantly as we worked.

By the end of the lesson, I had made my first friend.


	2. Every Flavour Beans

**Albus**

_First Year, Last Term_

I hugged my knees to my chest as the train pulled away, staring out of the window like it would be the last time I would ever see the cavernous castle and all of its twists and turns and secrets. I didn't want to leave. It felt funny to me, the idea that not even a year ago I had sat on this very seat in this very compartment, opposite this very same boy and girl, and wished that I wouldn't have to go to Hogwarts in the first place. I'd been sure that Rosie would run off and make a load of friends, and I was positive that I would never have any of my own.

"Are you sad about leaving?" A voice jerked me from my thoughts, and I glanced up to find Scorpius staring at me, his grey eyes sombre. He was probably worrying about going to stay with his grandfather. I had never thought, not in a million years, that my best friend would be a Malfoy. I wondered if Dad would approve. Uncle Ron probably wouldn't... poor Rosie.

"Yeah. I didn't think I'd miss it this much when I first arrived."

Rose's voice piped up from behind her gigantic textbook. "Me either. I thought nobody would like me."

"I thought I'd be in Slytherin," I confessed, and then shot an apologetic glance at Scorpius. "Sorry, no offence."

Scorp just smirked. He had gotten a lot more confident. Maybe that was because all the girls fancied him. Probably even Rosie. Actually, especially Rosie, come to think of it.

"I kept getting lost at the beginning of the year," Rose laughed. "It was really embarrassing."

"I kept getting tripped up whenever I walked into the Slytherin common room," Scorp admitted, grinning ruefully. "They kept picking on me for being a Gryffindor-lover."

"Not after you hexed Goyle," I reminded him. "They all wanted to be your best friend after that."

"True..." Scorpius said, smiling so widely that it looked like his face was about to crack. That was one of the funniest things I had ever seen, Goyle prancing around with his hands covering his face as little tentacles erupted all over it, and Scorpius innocently explaining to Professor Bell that he hadn't meant to do it, and that Goyle had been throwing bubotuber pus around the Transfiguration classroom anyway. Goyle got a week's worth of detentions. Scorpius got thanked for trying to stop a troublemaker. It was hilarious.

"Ferdinand's alright though," Scorpius decided. "You just have to give him a chance."

I raised one eyebrow at him sceptically. _Goyle was alright? On what planet?_

"That's never going to happen," Rosie scoffed, and I nodded my agreement. Scor shrugged and turned to stare out of the window again. Rosie returned to her book. I picked up a pumpkin pasty and started trying to squash it into the shape of a pancake with my knuckles.

The comfortable silence lasted for about half an hour, and I kept noticing Scor sneaking glances at Rose – who was totally engrossed in her book – when he thought no one was looking, then averting his eyes about ten seconds later with a smile on his face. He wasn't fooling me... or anyone else for that matter. I'd talked about it with Dom and James and they both agreed that it couldn't be any more obvious that Scorpius was sweet on Rosie.

As usual, it was Rose that broke the silence by slamming shut her textbook and declaring that she was hungry. I passed her the bag of Every Flavour Beans we were sharing and watched as she sifted through them, eventually settling on a lime green one. She popped it into her mouth and winced theatrically.

"What did you get?" Scor asked, looking like he was fighting the urge to laugh at her expression. She grimaced.

"I think it was coriander," she replied, swallowing noisily and sticking out her tongue so that she could wipe it on her jumper. Scor and I both chuckled.

"Don't be so pathetic, Rosie," Scorpius teased, his customary smirk growing wider as he spoke.

She frowned indignantly. I could feel a challenge coming on. That was one of Scor's favourite pastimes... teasing and competing against Rose.

"I am not pathetic!" she protested, poking her tongue out again.

"Yes, you are..." he goaded her, leaning back in his seat and waiting for the fireworks he knew would be headed his way.

"Right," Rosie huffed. "If you can do so much better, prove it! I dare you to eat every single bean I give you, and to do it with a straight face!" She smiled in satisfaction, but Scor didn't show any sign of intimidation. Instead, he smirked wider.

"You're on, Red."

Uh-oh. I knew both of them could be pretty sore losers when they wanted to be, particularly Rose, and this could get ugly. Not that it would get ugly... I hoped.

I sat back as Rose handed Scorpius the first bean, and prayed that she wouldn't jinx him when he won. Not if, _when_. That was the most confusing thing about Rosie's mad little challenges, she honestly _believed_ that she would eventually win one. She still hadn't.

* * *

"You cheated!" Rose was still crowing as we lugged our heavy trunks off the train, aided by Dominique, Molly, Lucy and Roxanne. Fred, Louis and James were being deliberately difficult, playing catch with a stolen Quaffle over our heads as we tried to get onto the platform. Victoire, the 'responsible' one in the family, was completely useless as well, having abandoned her own trunk on the train and hurtled into Teddy's arms – she was completely blanking us all as she snogged him in full view of everyone.

Lucy gave the trunk one last heave alongside me, and it slid out onto the platform, nearly crushing James. He was annoying me so much at that point, that I wished it had actually flattened him.

I heard a high pitched squeal, and Lily came skipping towards us, Mum not quite managing to restrain her. She groped at the air near my little sister's wrist, but Lily danced out of reach and came bounding over to Rose and me, crushing us in a three-person hug and emitting a squeal right by our eardrums.

"Lily, leave Rose and Al alone, for heaven's sake!" Mum yelled, swatting at my sister. She let us go, and we both gasped in air and massaged our throats. Mum planted a kiss on my forehead.

Behind Mum stood Aunt Hermione and Hugo, the latter grinning sheepishly at me and the former rushing to hug Rosie. A little way beyond them stood Uncle Ron and...

"DAD!" I yelled, and dropped everything I was holding, running up to him as he opened his arms and swept me into a bone-crushing hug.

"Hey, Al!" he greeted me, half-laughing. "I've missed you so much!"

When he put me down, I saw that Scorpius was being assaulted by a toddler with jet black hair and a pink dress on, who I guessed was Lena, his little sister. A woman who could only be his mum had her slender arm wrapped tightly around his shoulders, grinning from ear-to-ear. Hefting his trunk into his arms was a tall, pale, blond man... Draco Malfoy. Scor was chatting enthusiastically to him, and he was laughing at something in return. I grabbed my father's hand and pulled him towards the Malfoys.

"Where are we going?" Dad asked, puzzled.

"You have to come and talk to Scorpius's parents and ask if he can come and stay with us over summer, okay?" I ordered, dragging him forwards.

"Draco?" Dad called for his attention. He set down Scor's trunk and grinned at me, before turning his gaze to my father.

"Yeah?"

"Apparently, Al is just bursting to have Scorpius stay with us over summer, so I'm wondering if that would be alright?" Dad ran a hand through his hair as he spoke.

Mr. Malfoy nodded at once. "Of course, we'd love for Scor to go and stay with his friends... is that alright with you, squirt?" he glanced at Scor, who nodded hard.

"Great, well, we'll send you an owl," Dad answered.

"Okay, sure," Mr Malfoy said, smiling a little bit.

Just then, Rose came galloping over to us, a huge grin on her face. "Did you ask?" she demanded of me the second she reached us. I nodded. She looked at Mr. Malfoy. "Is he allowed?"

Mr. Malfoy chuckled and said, "Yes."

Rosie clapped her hands in delight and smiled at each of us in turn. "Brilliant!" she enthused.

"ROSE!" Uncle Ron bellowed from where he was standing, inspecting her luggage. "WHERE'VE YOU PUT CROOKSHANKS?"

Rosie bit her lip. "Oops..." she muttered, and gave us a pained look. "Well, I guess I'll see you over summer, Scor." She danced up to him and pulled him by the shoulder so that he would duck down slightly and she could kiss his cheek. She gave the rest of the Malfoys a parting wave and skipped off, leaving a pink-cheeked Scorpius staring incredulously after her.

I laughed.


	3. Birthday Surprises

**Rose**

_Summer of First Year_

I trudged down the stairs, blinking against the bright light poking through the curtains. The house was really quiet... too quiet. Whenever the house was this quiet, I always got the feeling that people were up to something.

I was right.

I rubbed my arm across my eyes to dislodge the sleep from them and groped blindly for the handle to the living room door. Tugging it open, I was hit with a wall of noise.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROSIE!" The chorus was deafening, and I could hear the sound of muggle party poppers and what sounded suspiciously like Weasley's Wizard Wheezes fireworks ricocheting off the walls. Drawing my arm away from my eyes the first thing I saw was a lot of red hair. Once I focused, it was easier to spot the people who didn't share my family's customary shade than to differentiate between the others.

My mum stood nearest the door, alongside Uncle Harry and Aunt Angelina, while Teddy's blue hair popped out from one side of the sofa, Vicky perched on his knee. Al and James stood in the middle of the room, grinning at me, and Louis and Dominique stood by the window, Aunt Fleur and Aunt Audrey behind them. Neville and Hannah were squashed into one corner, and even Kreacher had showed up for the festivities, which surprised me.

My eyes suddenly fell on another person squished into the room... platinum blond, taller than I remembered seeing him last, a smirk plastered all over his face and his grey eyes twinkling at me, like he was dying to laugh about something.

Scorpius had come to visit for my birthday? That was really... oh my God, I was wearing my _pyjamas_! My pink, teddy bear pyjamas! No wonder he looked like he was trying not to laugh.

I gave a small squeak and bolted out of the room, taking the stairs two at a time in an effort to reach my bedroom and barricade the door. I couldn't quite believe that that had just happened.

"Rose!" Several voices shouted at once, and I heard thundering footsteps echoing up the staircase behind me. Someone's fist hammered into my door, but I ignored it. I ignored all the voices, I was too busy rooting through my drawers trying to find something that I could wear that looked halfway presentable. I was coming up short.

Why didn't I have anything nice to wear?

I eventually settled on a green top, strappy, not too dressy, and a pair of white trousers. Then I took a deep, calming breath and stepped out into the now-quiet hallway.

My heart nearly stopped, I got such a fright. Sitting with his legs stretched out in front of him in the hallway, blocking my way down the stairs, was Scorpius. His arms were crossed tightly across his chest, his smirk in place, and one eyebrow cocked in my direction.

"Did we intimidate you?" he asked, and I could tell from his tone that he was working hard to keep from laughing.

"I just... never mind," I decided not to tell him about my mortification. He was a boy, I bet he didn't care about things like that. I'd be willing to stake my wand on the fact that he didn't give two hoots how he dressed. _Everyone fancies him anyway_, I thought, irritated.

"You look pretty," he commented, and then seemed a little taken aback by his own forthrightness. I blushed at the compliment, but that was nothing unusual. I always blushed when people complimented me.

"Thanks," I replied in a small voice.

"Did you forget that it was your birthday or something?" he asked, and the mischievous grin he had been fighting finally stole its way across his face.

"No... I just didn't expect all those people to be there. For y- everyone to see me in my pyjamas." I grimaced anew at the memory.

This time, Scor actually laughed.

"Why does it matter if you're in your pyjamas?" Good question, but I didn't have an answer.

"It just does," I shrugged, and he seemed to accept it, but I didn't miss the 'girls are weird' eye roll.

"Okay, but you should really come downstairs. Everyone's gone to tons of trouble, there's cake, and presents..."

My eyes lit up a bit. "Presents?" Scorpius nodded. "Did... did you get me a present?"

He rolled his eyes again, this time intending for me to see. "Duh!"

Reaching into his jeans pocket, he pulled out a small, badly wrapped parcel and dropped it into my hand. I stared down at it, wondering what in Dumbledore's name it could possibly be.

"Sorry it's wrapped a bit crappily," Scor apologised. "I'm not very good with that sort of thing."

I just shook my head. I was pleased that he'd even bothered to get me a present. Scor wasn't the kind of guy that I pictured trolling around the shops in Diagon Alley trying to find a birthday present.

I tore open the parcel eagerly and gasped as a silvery, fine chain, something that looked like it was made of moonlit water, and felt like it was made of silk. A closer inspection told me it was a bracelet.

"It's a mermish friendship bracelet," he mumbled. "I didn't know if you'd like it... I've never bought anything for a girl before... well, except my mum and Lena, and I didn't think you'd like a year's subscription to Witch Weekly or a Barbie Dreamhouse, so..." he trailed off, staring at the floorboards.

"Scor, I love it!" I whispered, fighting a bizarre urge to burst into tears. He grinned, still not meeting my gaze.

"I'm glad."

I tilted my head, surveying him carefully. "You didn't spend a _lot_ of money on this, did you?" I was hoping that he hadn't. I didn't feel worth that much money.

"Define 'a lot'," he said evasively. I groaned.

"Oh, Scorp, you didn't!"

"Well, I mean, I had to save up a bit, but it... it doesn't matter, I just wanted to get you something nice... you've been really nice to me this year, and..." He turned pink and didn't finish his sentence.

I didn't answer, but merely threw my arms around his neck and gave him a hug. He patted me clumsily on the back, seeming a bit awkward. When I pulled back, I couldn't help the tears in my eyes.

He laughed incredulously.

"You aren't crying, are you?"

"No," I denied, stifling a sniff. His smirk was back with a vengeance.

"You drippy git," he laughed. I swatted at him.

"Here," I stuck my arm out under his nose and dropped the bracelet into his hand. "Put it on me, will you?"

He looked doubtful. "Can't you do it yourself?"

"One handed? I don't think so." I shook my arm again. "C'mon, Scor, it's not difficult."

He fumbled with the clasp. "It's fiddly." After a few seconds more, he finally got it. "There," he declared, fastening it round my wrist. Before he could pull away, I flipped my arm over and seized his hand, dragging him to his feet as I clambered to mine.

"C'mon, everyone's waiting," I said. He smiled, and all of a sudden leant down and kissed my forehead.

"Happy birthday," he half-sang, before turning on his heel and galloping down the stairs, two at a time. I stayed frozen at the top, one hand on the banister. My forehead was burning from where his lips had touched my skin.

Once he reached the bottom, Scorpius turned, and to his surprise, found me still hovering at the head of the stairs.

"What are you waiting for?" he demanded, and I took a shaky breath before following him back towards my family.

My head still felt all tingly.


	4. Eavesdroppers Never Hear Good

**Scorpius**

_Second Year, Second Term_

Ferdinand pressed one finger to his lips and I stifled a laugh as we sneaked around the corner. It was always the same game that we played. We would sneak up on some random second year girls in the library and listen in to all their ridiculous, gossipy conversations. It was always good for a laugh.

We pressed our backs flat against the wall and peeked through a gap in the bookcase. There were two Ravenclaws and a Hufflepuff that I could see, along with one other person that was hidden from my sight. Tia Goldstein, one of the Ravenclaws, was leaning across the table, halfway through speaking.

"What about Kian Finnigan?"

The other Ravenclaw, Anastasia Ambrose, giggled girlishly and clapped her hands to her cheeks. Ferdinand imitated her and I creased up with silent laughter.

"He's cute," the Hufflepuff girl, whose name I couldn't actually remember, replied. "But what about Malfoy?"

I stopped laughing to listen. Ferdinand fixed me with a ooh-they're-talking-about-you look, and I jerked my head to get him to listen.

"Scorpius is gorgeous," Tia said shamelessly. "Especially since he joined the Quidditch team... he's only thirteen, but now he's got muscles..."

"You hear that, dreamboat?" Ferdinand whispered in my ear, and we both resumed our silent sniggering.

"I don't know what you're talking about," a lofty voice cut across the outbreak of exalting my name, and I stopped laughing abruptly. I now knew who the hidden girl was... Rose.

"What do you mean, Rosie?" Tia asked.

"Well, all this 'Scorpius is soooo like, totally amazing' stuff... it kind of makes me want to vomit everywhere."

I winced. Ouch...

"Why? Don't you think he's..."

"Good-looking? Obviously. Smart? Clearly. Good at Quidditch? Unquestionably." I grinned at Ferdinand, smug. He mimed swooning against the bookcase, and I bit the inside of my cheeks to keep from laughing out loud. I didn't know what Al was going on about, Ferdinand was good fun if you gave him the chance.

"Then why aren't you agreeing with us?" Tia demanded.

I really wanted to find out the answer to that myself, so I made a shushing gesture at my friend and pressed my ear to the gap in the books.

"_Because_..." she stressed the word as though it was obvious, "Much as I think Scor is great, he's just Scorpius. He's like... I don't know, like a wall hanging. Nice to look at, if you're into that sort of thing, makes you smile on occasion, but otherwise... well, hardly earth-shattering."

I didn't quite understand why I all of a sudden felt like I'd been punched in the face. I stepped back, panting like I had been winded, and glared at the hole through which I could hear, but not see, my so-called best friend. She... the deluded part of my brain that had convinced myself that I was untouchable was assuring me that Rose was only saying those things, that she didn't truly mean them, but the realistic part of me knew better.

_Hardly earth-shattering_. I couldn't believe that this was the way she spoke about me when she thought I wasn't listening.

The sudden nausea was unexpected, and I gripped at my stomach as it lurched uncomfortably.

"Scor, mate, are you okay?" Ferdinand whispered, clearly oblivious to the fact that I felt like a black hole had just opened up in front of me. "You've gone green."

"Stomach ache," I lied smoothly. Well, it wasn't exactly a lie... my stomach was aching. "I must have eaten something dodgy at lunch." Now that was a lie.

"Maybe you should go to the hospital wing," he advised, looking alarmed.

I nodded, and bolted for the door, catching it before it swung closed as a sixth year Ravenclaw entered.

"Scorpius?" the sixth year asked concernedly, and it was only then that I realised I had just rocketed past Dominique Weasley. _Great_, I thought. _Just fabulous_.

"I think I'm gonna throw up," I explained in one mega fast splurge, and disappeared through the double doors before she could question me further.

I ran as soon as the library doors had clanged shut, and I didn't stop running until I was out of the Entrance Hall and had fled down the stairs, sprawling myself in the grass under the shade of a large oak tree. It was chilly out, but I didn't care. The cold air was refreshing on my face.

I drew in deep, steadying breaths.

_Get a grip on yourself, Scorpius!_ I shouted in my own head. _Why does it matter whether Rose said that about you? She wasn't exactly being nasty... all she said was that she doesn't fancy you - what's the big deal?_

But it was a big deal, and I hadn't a clue why.


	5. Friction

**Albus**

_Second Year, Second Term_

"I can't wait until we start having Hogsmeade trips next year," Scorpius declared, stretching out in the armchair next to me. I had smuggled him into the Gryffindor common room so that he could help me with my Transfiguration homework.

I glanced up at him from my notes. "Why?"

Scor rolled his eyes as though the answer should be obvious. "Because, idiot, it means we can leave school for a while. Get out, wander around, by some Weasley's products, have a butterbeer..." He spread his hands wide as though indicating a picture.

I grinned. "You're right, that will be awesome."

"So Potter..." he began, and I glanced sideways at him warily. Whenever he started a sentence with my last name, it was about one of three things – doing him a favour, Quidditch or girls.

"What?" I asked, half-hoping it was about homework.

"What do you think of Tia Goldstein?"

Nope, it was about girls. I should have guessed. "She's pretty, I guess."

"Marissa Jordan?"

I blushed. Scor _knew_ I had a crush on Marissa. "She's... um... lovely."

"Lovely?" He raised one eyebrow at me and snorted. I swatted at him with my quill, and he ducked, laughing.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Rosie's voice cut through our laughter, and the grin slid off Scorp's face. I didn't know what was going on with him lately, but whenever Rose entered a room, he suddenly bore a striking resemblance to a deflated balloon.

"I'm helping Al with his homework," he mumbled into his lap, and twisted his face away to stare out of the window. I frowned at the back of his head, puzzled at his behaviour.

"Okay," Rosie shrugged, looking as mystified as I felt. She stood beside Scor's chair. "Scoot over so that I can sit down."

He obliged with a miserable expression. Rosie squished herself into the almost non-existent space. I didn't know what was the matter with her, because a Cyclops hit with a conjunctivitis curse could have seen that Scor didn't want to be anywhere near her.

"I'm thinking about asking Tia out," he announced abruptly, and both Rosie and I gasped.

"Where did that come from?" I asked, impressed that he had the nerve, and also a bit insulted – he hadn't even told me, his best friend, that he liked her.

"I dunno, I just feel like it."

I laughed. "God, other girls in our year will be baying for her blood." Scorpius rolled his eyes at me again.

"You flatter me too much, Al."

"You don't even fancy her!" Rosie suddenly spluttered, at an abnormally loud volume. Scor just looked at her with a completely blank expression.

"Says who?" he replied tonelessly.

"I think I'd know," Rosie argued, leaping out of the chair they were sharing and whirling around to face him with her arms folded across her chest. _Here we go again, time for another round of 'I'm so not jealous... I'm just playing the "betrayed best friend" card'_.

"Well, apparently not, or you wouldn't be surprised," Scorpius answered. I was amazed that he was answering her back, usually he would just swiftly divert the subject onto safer territory. Today, he seemed determined to provoke a reaction from her.

"Scorpius... what do you even see in her?" she demanded.

"Well, I don't know..." he shrugged theatrically. "She's pretty, and smart, and she's good at Quidditch..." Rosie's nose wrinkled at the mention of her only failure... flying. Everyone else in our family was amazing at it... except Victoire. But Rose was worse. "And she fancies me too."

"I know that!" Rosie snapped, not even aware at how transparent she was being. She was so obviously jealous that her skin was practically glowing green.

"And besides..." Both of them seemed to have completely forgotten I was there. "Why do you care?"

"I don't!" Rose lied.

"Exactly! So what's the problem? I like her... I mean, she's like one of those really nice wall hangings... I know it isn't _earth-shattering_..."

I wasn't entirely sure what Scorpius was wittering on about, but apparently Rose was, because all the colour drained from her face as she stared at our mutual best friend with bug eyes.

"I didn't mean that," she said quietly. I frowned, but made no move to interrupt. Now that would be suicide.

"Save it, Weasley. I don't care. And clearly, neither do you, so we're fighting about nothing." Weasley... whatever Rose had done to get into Scor's bad books had to be pretty serious, because he never referred to her by her last name. Me, sure, often, but never Rose.

Come to think of it, I had never actually seen him fight with her. Not even once. Sure, I had seen Rosie storm at him and scream until she was blue in the face, but Scor would just sit there calmly until he was sure it was all out of her system and then smirk and say "You done?" He never raised his voice, never seriously insulted her.

"Scorpius, I didn't." Most of all, Scor was never the last one angry. But now he was, because all the fight had been sucked out of Rose, and she stared morosely at the floor, addressing her shoes.

"Yes, you did. And that's totally fine, I'm just pointing out the fact that you're so used to fighting everyone on everything that you haven't even stopped to notice that you don't give a house elf's ear about this."

Rose looked completely broken in two. I debated for a second about whether to intervene on her behalf, but decided against it. It was about seventy years too early for my funeral, at the very least.

"You don't believe me." Rose's voice broke on that sentence, but Scor barely blinked. He was murderously angry, even while claiming he wasn't and it brought out a totally ruthless side of him that I had never seen before. He was showing no mercy.

"No. I don't. Why should I believe anything you say to me anymore? You know, it's a wonder you weren't put in Slytherin. Liars fit in."

Rose gasped, and tears began to pour down her cheeks. I was half out of my chair, but I took one look at Scorpius's face and sank back down. All the anger in him dissolved as soon as that first tear splashed onto her cheek, and he bit down on his lip so hard I thought he might tear it off.

Rose looked up at him with shimmering eyes, her cheeks shiny and wet. Her gaze was defiant, as if her tears were proving something words couldn't. For Scorp, they seemed to be. Wordlessly, he did something I had never seen him do before. He held out his arms to Rosie for a hug.

Scor didn't hug people. Not anyone. Sure, he allowed himself to be hugged, but he never hugged you _back_. Rose seemed to recognise the gesture for what it was... an apology. Sniffling, she stepped into his arms, and he closed them around her, squeezing her tightly. She continued to sniff into his shoulder for a minute.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, so softly I wasn't sure that I heard him right.

"Me too," Rosie mumbled, her voice muffled by Scorpius's robes. She drew back from him and he dropped his arms immediately, his smirk returning. Rose looked puzzled.

"What are you laughing at?" she demanded.

"I'm not laughing," he denied.

"Fine," she huffed, "Then what are you _smirking_ at?"

"You have panda eyes."

I glanced at Rose's face to see what he meant, and sure enough, her mascara had run halfway down her cheeks. She gave us both a watery smile. "I'll go and wash my face."

She turned on her heel and jogged up the stairs. As soon as she was out of earshot, I turned to Scor with a lost expression.

"What was _that_ about?"

To my surprise, he sighed wearily, looking as confused by his actions as I was. "I'm damned if I know."


	6. Reality Check

**Rose**

_Second Year, Last Term_

I slammed my Transfiguration book shut and stood up too quickly, gripping the Gryffindor table as the world swam in front of my eyes. I had serious head rush.

"Hey, look, it's Weasel."

I mentally stopped myself from groaning as soon as I heard those words. Flora Montague, third-year Slytherin pain-in-my-backside. I took a deep breath and resolved to completely ignore her. Standing up straight, I picked up my textbook and whirled around to find myself nearly nose-to-nose with the awful girl in question. I shrank back ever so slightly.

Flora Montague was one of those girls who was tall, skinny and pretty, and made sure everyone else knew it. She was vicious, with a vile tongue and the most shark-like smile I had ever seen.

I tried to brush past her, but one of her two cronies, Lola, threw her arm out to prevent me escaping. That was something I had noticed about bullies... they attacked in numbers. I turned back to Flora and met her eyes brazenly.

"What do you want?"

She laughed, a silky, dangerous sound. "I want to be famous. I want to marry a really rich, pure-blooded wizard and live in a mansion... and I want to ruin your day." I sighed. I should have expected as much.

"Okay, Flora. Go ahead, ruin my day."

She hated it when I wasn't afraid of her. "You think you're something special, don't you, Weasley? Swanning around this place with the two most popular boys in your year, thinking you're untouchable. You aren't. You may have great_ friends_... but you're still pathetic."

I raised my eyebrows expectantly. "And why's that?"

"Because..." And there was that shark smile again. "Nobody's ever gonna fancy you."

I wished I could say the same to her, but the problem was that would need an extra hand to count on my fingers the number of people that I _knew_ fancied Flora.

"Why not?" I asked patiently.

"Because... you're ugly as hell. Like a troll with spattergroit!" Her cronies sniggered. "Everyone thinks so."

"Well, since you've never met _everyone_, and neither have I, I doubt that."

Flora's predatory smile didn't falter. If anything, it widened. "Okay, so _everyone_ was an exaggeration, but everyone I know. They talk about it in the common room down in the dungeons. All the second year boys... I hear them, and it makes me laugh. They laugh about how repulsive you are, with your ginger hair and horrible freckles and buck teeth. They all do it. _All_ of them."

I didn't want to let on how much that stung, but she was insisting about the 'all' part rather hard.

"What's wrong with being ginger?"

"They all think you're ugly," she repeated. That wasn't an answer.

"Why don't you say what you're actually trying to say?" I requested, narrowing my eyes.

She smiled. "Scorpius Malfoy was at it last night. Some best friend of yours he is, huh?" I pressed my lips together, knowing that she knew that one hurt like a punch to the stomach, but not allowing her the satisfaction of seeing me lose my cool.

"I don't believe you."

"That's fine. Delude yourself if you want. You're never going to have a boyfriend in this place, Weasley... who would want to kiss you? I just thought I'd let you know." She signalled to her cronies and the three of them dispersed, leaving me standing there, alone, fighting tears.

* * *

I found Scorpius where he always was on a sunny day... by our tree. Feeling pathetic, I stood and watched him, his head bowed and his forehead furrowed as he intently read something in one of his textbooks. My eyesight wasn't good enough to see what it was from this distance. He was tapping his wand against his thigh, a shower of sparks flying out with each impact. He didn't even seem to notice.

I dashed across the lawn, half worried that he might jinx me if I got too close, but wanting some company to drive Flora's bitter comments from my mind. I stopped a few metres short of him, now able to read the title of the book. _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2_. He was reading a page we hadn't even gotten to in class yet.

I was just about to greet him when his eyes flashed up to meet mine, the grey hard with determination, and he pointed his wand at me sternly. I quailed, but didn't move, as he cried,

"Expelliarmus!"

My book slipped from my grasp and soared through the air, landing on the grass a few feet away with a muffled thud. I blinked at him, amazed.

"How did you _do_ that?" I gasped, feeling abruptly envious. I wished I had the ability to teach myself things like Scorp could. It was so impressive. I threw myself down beside him, craning my neck so that I could see the page he was reading. Nothing jumped out at me.

"I've been practicing. I'm getting quite good." He wasn't lying. That was completely brilliant.

"We haven't even been taught that yet," I muttered, green with jealousy.

"I don't want to look stupid if I can't do it when we get taught," he explained, and though I sort of got his logic, it was still stupid.

"But that's _why_ we get taught, silly!" I said. My smile faded slightly as I saw the fear of failure I had to wrestle with when I first arrived echoed in his eyes. "It's okay to make mistakes, Scorp," I finished gently.

"But what if I couldn't do it, Rosie?" he shot at me. I swear, Scorpius spends half his life obsessing over what ifs.

"You'd learn eventually," I shrugged. He stared into my eyes for a time that was too long to be polite, and I felt a nervous blush starting to heat my cheeks.

"I want to be smart." His confession meant it was his turn to blush.

"But you _are_ smart, Scorp," I vowed. Then I said something that I wouldn't normally concede to. "You might even be smarter than me... though I'm not going to tell anyone." I patted his knee consolingly, noticing that he had absolutely no reaction to the contact. Flora was right... my little crush – yeah, I had finally admitted it... to myself at least – was going absolutely nowhere.

I sighed, hoping Scor wouldn't notice my sudden dejection.

He did, obviously.

"Rosie, what's wrong?"

_I have a crush on you and you barely even notice that I'm a girl, except when you start to panic about birthday presents. _"Nothing... it's just..." _I wish you'd notice me. I wish you'd be this desperately obsessive over me as I am over you... _"Flora Montague was teasing me today." My cheeks felt hot enough to fry an egg on, and I knew Scorp would see.

"What did she say?" My eyes widened as Scor unthinkingly leaned forwards and brushed my fringe away from my eyes. My skin felt like I had just gotten an electric shock when his fingers brushed it.

"It's stupid," I whispered, wishing it wasn't.

"Tell me anyway." Wow, he really wasn't going to let it go.

"You'll laugh." _At me_.

"I won't." _You will._

I measured how far he'd be willing to go before he dropped it, and decided I might as well just tell him what Flora had said... or _most_ of what Flora had said. "She said that I'll never have a boyfriend because nobody will ever fancy me or love me, and nobody would ever want to kiss me," I blurted, each word running into the next. He seemed to get the gist though, because his nose wrinkled.

"Why wouldn't anyone ever love you?"

"Because..." _I look like a troll with spattergroit. You don't see me as anything other than a friend. _"I'm ginger. So she says."

He looked at me for about ten seconds, his eyes wide, and then he burst out laughing.

_Great, he found it funny. _"I told you you'd laugh!" I started vocalising a lot of thoughts involving Scorpius's painful death, but he just laughed harder.

"I'm sorry, Rosie, but that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. What's wrong with being ginger?" _I don't really think the ginger is the problem. I think it might be the uglier-than-a-troll-with-spattergroit-syndrome._

"That's what I said."

He looked like he was dying to laugh again. "And what did she say?"

"She didn't have an answer." Well, not much of one.

"Well then, there you go. I can't believe that bothered you." He was staring at me like I had just landed from outer space.

"It's because I'm always worried about that," I admitted in a small voice. He just wasn't clued in on which 'that' I was referring to.

"What, about Flora? Rosie, she's just jealous because you're prettier than her," Scorpius dismissed.

"No, not about her, about..." I trailed off, his words only just sinking in. "Really?"

He frowned, confused. "What?"

"Do you really think I'm prettier than Flora?" _Please don't just be saying that. Please_.

He made sure I was holding his gaze before he firmly answered, "Definitely." My heart skipped a beat. "But what are you worried about?"

"Well, the idea that nobody" – and by _nobody_, I meant _him_ – "ever wanting to kiss me. Or nobody ever falling in love with me." My blush felt scarily hot now.

"That's ridiculous, Rosie," he scoffed immediately.

"But I still worry."

Scorpius rolled his eyes, and he thought I didn't see. I could practically see the exasperated sign 'I don't get girls!' stamped across his forehead.

"But you shouldn't. She's being mean and it's not true."

"But..." I took a deep breath before admitting this one last weakness to him. "Nobody ever has kissed me before."

There was a pause of about three seconds, and then Scorpius leaned over towards me, pressing his lips onto mine. He moved his lips gently against mine for a moment, and I could barely breathe. His lips were so soft, and much warmer than I'd imagined. All too soon, he pulled away, leaning back against the tree with a smug grin.

"Okay, well, that's not true anymore," he whispered.

I felt like someone had hit me over the head. It was more than head rush. My stomach was doing back flips and my head was spinning. I widened my eyes.

"You... kissed me." It was almost an accusation.

"Uh-huh," he agreed.

I pressed my fingers to my lips, still warm from the pressure of his. "Wow."

Forget about a crush. My world was spinning away from me at a million miles an hour.

I was in love.


	7. Letters

**Scorpius**

_Summer of Second Year_

I read the letter to myself for the fourth time, smiling as my fingers traced the words.

_Dear Scorp,_

_Ohmigod! It is absolutely insane here at Grimmauld Place! Roxy and Louis keep hanging Hugo upside down on the washing line, which Aunt Ginny is going mental about, and Dad is teaching James how to de-gnome a garden, which is terrifying, because James has a really wide aim, and Kreacher keeps getting annoyed when gnomes come flying through the window, shattering the glass._

_Victoire and Teddy are getting married, did Al tell you? Grandma is getting totally carried away already, which is hilarious. I swear, Ted's going to have to body-bind both her and Andromeda until the wedding is over. It's the only way they'll manage to get a quiet life. _

_Oh, and did I say? Dom got into the Tornadoes! Uncle Bill is so proud, he's practically glowing. Aunt Fleur isn't as enthused though. She keeps complaining about how 'Eef she gets a broken nose 'ow eez she going to keep 'er good looks? Eet eez an 'orrible career, Quidditch!' Uncle Bill says he lost his good looks and still managed to marry a veela, so maybe it doesn't matter. That shut Aunt Fleur up. _

_Teddy and Al are teaching me how to play Quidditch and I'm slowly – very slowly, as in pace of an arthritic snail – improving, so who knows? Maybe by the time we get back to school I could only lose to you by a million points in a game of one-a-side. _

_The little muggle boy across the street from my house keeps asking me to marry him. Even though he's only five, and doesn't really get the concept of marriage, at least that's a proposal, right?_

_I've been practicing the imperius curse so that you can do my bidding when we get back to school – I will be a total slave driver... muahaha! JOKE! I haven't really. I went to this muggle art course thing, and we had to draw pictures of people that were influential in our lives. I drew one of you, and it actually wasn't bad, so I sent it to you. _

_Love_

_Rosie._

_P.S. I heard about you and Tia Goldstein meeting up over summer. Was it like a date? How did it go?_

_P.P.S Al says hi, and is demanding to know why you haven't written back to his mammoth sized letter yet._

I re-read the words again, feeling a raging war of emotions inside my head. I missed Rosie, an awful lot more than I was admitting to my dad, but it seemed like she was having lots of fun without me. I didn't know whether that made me happy or sad. And she was asking me how my date with Tia went. Did that mean that she wanted to know the details because she was happy for me, or to confirm or disprove her fears? If there were fears, why would they exist? Would she be jealous? Did I want her to be jealous?

All these questions and more raged in my head. Yes, I decided. I wanted her to be jealous. I glanced at the last line of the letter again. _Al says hi, and is demanding to know why you haven't written back to his mammoth sized letter yet._

The reason for that was simple. Al had invited me to come and stay at Grimmauld Place. Much as I wanted to, I couldn't, based on another letter that my owl, Augustus, delivered for me this morning.

_Scorpius,_

_I hope that you'll come along with your sister and spend the last three weeks of the summer holidays with your grandmother and I. We feel like we haven't seen you in months, and would very much like to have the chance to catch up with you about how things are going in Hogwarts. _

_Your grandmother misses you very much, and is really counting on your visit to lift her spirits, so please don't let me, her or yourself down._

_I look forward to seeing you soon,_

_Grandfather._

Talk about a guilt trip. I didn't want to write back to Al, because I was terrified of disappointing him. And the way my grandfather's letter was phrased made it clear that I didn't really have a choice in the matter. It wasn't my fault.

"Scorpius!" My mother's voice rang up the staircase.

"What?" I bellowed back.

"Tia is coming round in a few minutes!"

"'Kay!" I yelled, and pulled a fresh sheet of parchment out of my drawer.

_Dear Rosie,_

_That's great news about Teddy, Victoire and Dominique. Tell them all congratulations from me. I'm glad you're having fun, too. _

_You will never get better than me at Quidditch, so give up trying now. Not that you shouldn't improve... just don't reach for the stars. God, I sound conceited..._

_At least the little muggle boy loves you, I guess. I love you, too, but don't be expecting me to get down on one knee, cause I'd hate to be stuck with you forever. Kidding... mostly._

_Tia and I did have a date, and it was fun. She talks a bit too much, but then, I've had plenty of practice with that from listening to you, eh Rosie?_

_Tell Al I'm really sorry, but I've been roped into going to see my grandfather and I can't stay with him, but he shouldn't worry, because I'll be writing him long complaint filled letters daily once I get there. You too, actually, so you have that to look forward to. _

_I loved the picture... its hanging on my wall. It doesn't move, which is a bind, but you've got real talent Rosie. You should maybe be an artist. _

_I'll talk later, because Tia is coming round, and I'm going to Grandfather's tomorrow. Spare me now!_

_Love_

_Scorpius._

Once I was satisfied with my letter, I rolled it up tight and attached it to Augustus's leg, which he held out patiently while I secured it. With one low hoot, he took off out the window. I watched him until he disappeared.

"Scorpius, Tia is here!"

"Coming!"


	8. The Claws Come Out

**Albus**

_Summer of Second Year_

I completely blanked Scorpius as he strode into the living room. Kreacher was busy polishing the coffee table, and Rosie was sitting in the corner with Lily, painting her nails.

"Hi, everyone!" he greeted, and Rose immediately dropped what she was doing to run across the room and fling herself into his arms. Or, well, around his neck, because his arms stayed rigid at his sides. I glared. Merlin, would it kill him to actually hug her back?

"Hey Scorp," Lily greeted with a casual wave.

"You excited about Hogwarts next week, Lil?" Scorpius asked, grinning. Lily wiggled her newly painted fingers experimentally.

"I can't wait."

"Where have you been?" Rose demanded, hitting him across the shoulder. "I've missed you so much."

Scorpius smirked that damn smirk. "I was suffering at the hands of my grandfather."

Rose clucked sympathetically, but I just snorted derisively. Both of them turned to look at me with their eyebrows raised.

"What's your problem?" Scorpius asked.

"You. You're my problem."

There was a very tense silence that you could cut with a knife, in which Kreacher even stopped polishing to stare at me in alarm.

"Why's that?" Scorpius was keeping calm. I hated that.

"Because you have some nerve showing up here like this."

Scorpius blinked in astonishment. "What do you mean?"

"You don't write to us, like you promised. You ignore my invitations. You don't want to make the effort, Scorpius. Why should I bother?"

"Al, mate, it wasn't like that."

"The hell it wasn't!" I snapped, losing my cool entirely. Scorpius glared, but Rosie's eyes doubled in circumference.

"Al, stop it," she begged, but for once I didn't listen to her.

"You spend the whole summer with your grandfather, and suddenly you're too good for us?" I shouted.

"I didn't say that!" Scorpius thundered.

"You might as well have!" I roared back. "You just drop us and ignore us and expect us to still want to be your friends? Have you got a screw loose? Or..." I breathed in sharply through my nostrils like an angry bull. "Maybe that was the point. You don't want to be our friend anymore, because now that you're all pally with Grandpa, you've learnt not to mix with the mudbloods and half-bloods. Maybe you've decided our blood isn't clean enough for you!"

I was voicing my worst fears. My worst insecurities. It seemed the only logical explanation for all his avoidance.

"When the hell did I ever act like that?"

"I don't know why I didn't see it coming!" I bellowed. "Becoming friends with Goyle, of all people. I always knew you'd end up ditching us for Slytherins... Malfoys never change their Dark Marks."

There was a collective intake of breath from Rose, Lily, Scorpius and Kreacher.

"Master Albus, can Kreacher get you something to drink? Master Albus..." he fretted, wringing his hands, desperate to escape the tension. Rose turned to him and knelt down.

"You can go into the kitchen with Mistress Ginny if you don't want to stay here, Kreacher," she said gently, her voice thick with unshed tears. Kreacher nodded and ducked out of the room. Rose straightened up, only to find me and Scorpius glaring at each other as though it was the first time we had ever looked at each other properly. Staring with undisguised hatred.

"You're calling me a Death Eater." It wasn't a question.

"Yes." I answered anyway. If he was trying to stare me down, it never worked.

"That..." he sucked in air angrily. "Is a total lie."  
"Are you calling me a liar?" I snapped.

"Sure am! What are you gonna do about it, tell the Chosen One on me?"

"Guys, stop it!" Rose yelled, stamping her foot. We both ignored her. This was the fight I had been itching for for the past month.

"At least my family are the good guys!"

"At least mine have the cash to feed their kids!"

Rose jerked like she had just been slapped. That insult stung her as much as it did me.

"The Malfoys have more money than sense."

"What have your family got going for them, seeing as they have neither?"

"I knew this was how you really felt!"

"And now The Boy Who Milked His Father's Fame For All It Was Worth is pretending he's Sybill Trelawney!"

Rose's head jerked between us like she was watching a tennis match. She bit down on her lip, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Please, stop!" she begged morosely.

"Actually, you know what, let's!" I spat. "Go back to your manor house with your peacocks and torture some muggles why don't you, _Malfoy_?"

"Okay, fine! And while I'm at it, I'll call Marissa and invite her over, see if we can't..."

He didn't finish his sentence, because my fist flew and punched him in the face. His head rolled, and he staggered. Then his arm whipped back and I had landed on my hardwood floor, dazed.

"Scorpius! Albus! Stop, please! Stop fighting!"

"Either you're on his side, or you're on mine, Rose. Don't worry, I'll let myself out." With one final glare in my direction, Scorpius fled from the room, slamming the door behind him. Rose sobbed, and her tears splashed onto my T-Shirt.

Malfoy was officially no longer my friend.


	9. Cutting The Ties

**Rose**

_Third Year, First Term_

I charged up to Scorpius, intent on beating him around the head with my wand, a textbook... anything to hand, really. I was mad. Worse than that, I was _hurt_. I had stopped to say hi to him this morning, and he swept right past me as if I wasn't there. He had never, ever done that before. He had at least nodded.

"Scorpius!" I demanded, the second I got close to him. It struck me for the millionth time how tall he had gotten, how his shoulders had broadened and his hair had gotten longer and messier and how he just looked... different. But different in a good way. Maybe different was the wrong word... I meant gorgeous.

"What's the matter?" he asked, leaning casually against the wall without a care in the world. He was chewing slowly on a cooking apple, one leg propped up on the wall, one arm folded across his chest, looking effortlessly cool. It was amazing how much he had changed in two years. What was even more amazing was how he managed to make my heart go all hiccup-y now. That was a recent development. About the end of second year, I thought.

Yeah, around the time he kissed me.

My legs went to jelly just thinking about it.

_Merlin, how pathetic was I?_

"You didn't even acknowledge my presence this morning, that's what the matter is!" I snapped waspishly. It was like rubbing salt onto a still festering wound, hearing it said out loud.

"I was with Darren and Dashell," he pointed out. As if I cared that he was around the Nott brothers!

"So?" I demanded.

Apparently he hadn't been expecting me to say that, because his eyes grew wider and his eyebrows knitted together.

"So... I just didn't, okay, Weasley?"

That was like another slap in the face. He had just called me Weasley. Weasley! In a _deserted_ corridor. I knew our friendship was still technically illicit now that he and Al were 'at war' but couldn't he at least be normal when we were alone?

"Since when have we not been on first name terms, _Malfoy_?" I emphasised his surname to prove a point. He raised the apple to his mouth again, and slowly bit another chunk off. I tried not to look at his lips, and failed miserably. That just made me angrier. When did I start thinking like this?

"Sorry, Rosie. I didn't mean..." he trailed off, averting his eyes from me.

"Didn't mean what?" I challenged. This would be interesting.

"I didn't mean anything by it," he finished, his eyes flashing up to meet mine again. Cold and grey, as was his norm these days. There was never any real emotion burning there when I looked.

"Then why are you treating me like... like...?"

"Like I'm a Slytherin and you're a Gryffindor?" he completed my sentence for me, and at least he had the decency to look apologetic. "I'm really sorry, Rosie. My friends... well... they don't understand how I can be friends with you."

"Why should that matter?" I wondered, my eyes searching his face for the answer I longed to hear, for any inclination that he agreed with me, that it didn't matter, that I mattered more than public opinion.

"I don't know, it just does," he said miserably, hanging his head.

"How totally Romeo and Juliet does that sound?" I said wearily. "You're a Slytherin, I'm a Gryffindor..."

"But only without the epic love," he pointed out. "So less fun. Besides, my friends..."

"Scor, I... wait... _my friends_?" I sneered the last two words, adopting a poor imitation of Scorpius's much deeper voice. He looked at me quizzically. "Am I not your friend?"

He winced, and my heart sank. What on earth did that mean? "I... I don't know anymore, Rosie," he whispered, and this time, when his gaze met mine, his eyes were alight with an emotion I wasn't sure of. I wasn't sure if bad emotions were better than the blankness though.

"I thought... I thought you liked me..." I struggled to keep the hurt from my voice. Scorpius bit his lip.

"I... look, Rose, can we not talk about this? It's complicated, and I..."

"Do you like me or don't you?" I spat, rage flaring in my chest.

Instead of answering me, Scorpius stepped forwards, edging me into the wall. He threw the apple over his shoulder, and braced his arms against the stone, locking me in place. He was much, much too close for comfort. My heart was trying to jump out of my chest, and my breathing was coming a lot quicker. He leaned down until his eyes were on my level.

"How can you even ask me that?" he snarled, his face an inch from mine. I couldn't speak. "How can you honestly think that I don't like you? Are you insane?"

"I... I don't..." I stuttered. I cleared my throat and tried again. "It just seems like you hate m- _mnph_!" I didn't get to finish my sentence, because at that second, Scorpius's lips crashed against mine, his mouth swallowing my last word.

His lips moved against mine, and I didn't stop him. I didn't want to. My legs completely dissolved, and I was glad that he was half holding me up, because I would have crumpled to the floor otherwise. I just kissed him like I'd discovered it was our last minute on this planet. If it actually was, what a way to go.

This wasn't like the one time he'd kissed me before. That was gentle, and sweet, and chaste. This... well, this was passion bordering on violence. I dug my nails into his shoulders as he pressed me against the wall, tasting his tongue in my mouth, feeling dangerously close to fainting...

Abruptly, he pulled away, and we were both panting hard. He turned from me so that I couldn't see his face, his head bowed.

"I..." It was all he managed to get out. He looked back at me, and his eyes were on fire. I had no idea what to make of this turbulent, different Scorpius. Something had changed between us, just like it had changed with him and Al.

Okay, maybe _not_ like it had changed between him and Al.

"Scorpius..." I breathed, at a loss as to what to say next. He shook his head.

"I don't know what the hell I'm doing," he whispered roughly, and I could sense pain and confusion in his voice.

"I don't know what I'm doing either."

"I miss you," he said softly, and my breathing caught. "I try not to, but..."

"I know," I mumbled. "I miss you, too."

"Maybe... maybe this would be easier if we stayed away from each other," he suggested.

"I..." I felt like my heart was being ripped in two by some unseen force.

"I'm sorry, Rose. It's really going to hurt, not being your friend." I knew he was being sincere. That made it worse.

"You aren't my friend, Scorpius." _You're something much more confusing and complicated and amazing than that. _

"Right," he said, sounding determined. He drew his hand across his mouth, and walked over to his discarded apple, picking it up.

"Don't eat that," I advised. I felt, rather than saw, him smile.

"I won't." He sighed woefully, as two students from Hufflepuff in our year approached. "I'll be seeing you, Weasley."

"Right. I'll make sure I'm avidly looking elsewhere so that I don't have to return the favour."

He chuckled, and whispered so softly I could barely hear him. "Good one."

He strode off, meaning to look angry for show, and I touched my lips softly.

_No epic love story? Ha. I wish._


	10. Best Enemies

**Scorpius**

_Third Year, Second Term_

"Okay, I'm going to ask again... what's wrong with you?" Ferdinand flopped down into the seat beside me as I stared morosely at my plate of fried eggs. I wasn't in the mood to talk about anything.

So I just shrugged.

I heard him breathe in slowly, making a show of how I was trying his patience. I couldn't spare him a thought though. There was one thing turning around in my mind, like a constant, continuous, frustrating circuit. _Rose._ Her name just rang out again and again. _Rose. Rose. Rose._

I sighed and threw my fork down with a clatter.

"Wow, and you aren't even going to pretend to eat, Scor?" I jumped. I hadn't noticed that Sophie was sitting opposite me, I was that wrapped up in my own thoughts. Merlin, I could win Most Unobservant Wizard of The Year... if such an award existed.

Like I couldn't even control them, my eyes drifted towards the Gryffindor table, where Potter and his cronies were laughing loudly at something Finnigan had just said. Well, all of them except Rose, who just stared despondently at her own breakfast, her lips mashed together in a thin line.

She was upset, too.

It killed me that I couldn't just get up from my table and walk over to her to ask if she was alright, like I used to. I hated that I couldn't give her a hug – not that that was a regular occurrence anyway – or even just offer her a shoulder to cry on.

I hated that we weren't friends.

But who was I kidding? Rose Weasley was never my friend. Sure, I pretended that she was my friend, I talked myself into believing that she was my friend, but what was the first thing I noticed about her? How pretty she was. What was the first dream I had about her? Kissing her. And that was when I was eleven. It's only gotten worse. Now that I'm a big bad fourteen year old – my sister's words, not mine – I'm stuck with all my thoughts consisting of her name on repeat.

And that is not normal for someone who is your best friend. Neither is the knowledge that you would chuck yourself in front of an unforgivable curse to keep her from getting hurt. And when all you think about when you look at them is the time you kissed them in the Charms corridor... yeah, not best friend behaviour.

See, this is what I don't get. I couldn't have spelled it out any clearer for Rose if I'd declared my love from the top of the astronomy tower, so why, _why_, didn't she understand that I was so helplessly, hopelessly in love with her? She was the one who compared us to Romeo and Juliet! Didn't Juliet leave her family behind to be with Romeo? Yes. And where did self-proclaimed Juliet sit? With Albus Potter, not with me.

But then, maybe I should be thankful. Romeo and Juliet both wound up dead. With any luck, I might last a bit longer than... how old was he when he died? Fifteen? Well... there's a really sad part of me that gets where he came from. I reckon if I were in his position I would have done the same. Now _that's_ scary.

Someone snapped their fingers very close to my face, and I could tell it would be Sophie without checking. She always did that.

"Earth to Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy!"

I tried to snap myself out of my Rose-induced stupor and pay attention to my friends. Which didn't include Rose anymore.

"Scorpius... do you want to go to Hogsmeade with me and Ferd today, or what?" Sophie snapped. "That's the third time I've asked you."

"Oh... um... yeah, sure, I'd love to."

"She's not looking at you, so why are you eyeballing her every three seconds?" Sophie continued.

"Who?"

"Weasley." She clucked her tongue as though it should have been immediately obvious to me who she was speaking about. In fairness, it probably should have been.

"I'm not."

"Don't try to deny it, Scor. You're too transparent," she scoffed. I shut my mouth promptly, sensing that I should pick my battles wisely, and this wasn't one I would win. It was as unwise to mess with Sophie as it was to mess with Rose...

"You're looking at her again!"

I jerked my eyes away, forcing myself to look at Sophie. Brunette, brown-eyed, irritated Sophie. Yep, not looking at Rose worked.

"Smile Soph, it might never happen," Ferd snorted, and Sophie obliged. She was much prettier with a smile on her face.

I resolved to throw myself into interacting with my poor neglected friends as much as I could, and managed to finish my breakfast whilst talking and joking with the both of them, not actually glancing over at... well, her.

"I'll race you to Honeydukes the second we hit the ground in Hogsmeade," Ferdinand offered.

"You're on. And I'll win."

He dismissed my comment instantly. "Pfft! No way!"

"Care to make it interesting...?" I asked, grinning.

"A galleon to the winner."

"Done. You know, this is too easy, taking your money like this. I almost feel guilty." My jibe was greeted by a roll of Ferdinand's eyes, and a chuckle from Sophie.

"Well, _your_ good mood lasted all of ten minutes," I laughed, as Sophie's smile suddenly slid off her face, to be replaced by a look of horror.

"Malfoy?"

I froze in my seat at the voice that came from behind me. Then I turned, incredibly slowly, and came face to face with the one person I didn't want to be thinking about.

"Rose – I mean, Weasley."

She was furious... but I knew it was only for show. She couldn't be seen to actually want a conversation with me.

"Would you please follow me? Much as it pains me to admit it, I have to talk to you."

"Fine," I said blandly, standing up. "I'll be back in a minute."

Ferdinand nodded. Sophie glared, and mouthed 'self-destructive, much?' I ignored her, and turned to follow Rose out of the Great Hall. She strode confidently to an empty classroom, yanking the door open and ushering me inside with a face like thunder.

The moment the door closed, her hard expression dissolved, and she flung her arms around my neck, hugging me to her. For only the second time in my life, I snaked my arms around her waist and hugged her back, thinking it would cause me actual physical pain to let her go again.

"I don't want to pretend I hate you anymore," I whispered, but I felt her shaking her head before I had properly got the words out.

"Scor, we have to. I have to be there for Al, and I can't take your side. Or, I can't be seen to take your side."

Something she'd said sunk in after a moment's silence. "Wait... does that mean you are on my side?"

"He was mean." I took that as a yes, and I smirked in satisfaction.

Rosie stepped back, and I dropped my arms reluctantly. I found it surprisingly easy to touch her... despite the fact that my body seemed to want to jump out of its own skin whenever I did.

She perched herself on the edge of one of the desks, swinging her legs and scuffing the floor with her shoes. I watched her like a hawk, finally being free to do so blatantly.

"You look thin."

Rosie blushed. "Um. Thank you?"

I huffed. "It wasn't a compliment. You haven't been eating." My eyes narrowed in accusation.

"Neither have you." I hid my smile. She'd been watching me too.

"Rose..." I sighed, moving to sit next to her on the desk. "What are we going to do?"

She was so close. I could count her eyelashes, and I might've had I not been too preoccupied by staring at her lips. I could still vividly remember the taste of strawberries when I'd kissed her. My breathing hitched unconsciously. I moved my arm back, and my skin brushed hers. She shivered from head to toe as I did so, though it wasn't cold in here.

Was I making her shiver? No, I was being ridiculous.

"We're going..." she trailed off, gulping. "We're going to carry on like we never had this conversation."

"Like we hate each other's guts." I was speaking without really hearing myself.

"Like we would avada kedavra each other if we got the chance," she added, and I had the feeling she wasn't paying attention to her own words, either.

"So... Weasley... I hate you."

"Hate you more, Malfoy."

We looked at each other simultaneously, and blue collided with grey. Fireworks. At least, there was for me. She licked her lips nervously. I felt myself slowly leaning in, her eyes began to flicker closed...

The door crashed open, and in flew Peeves, making us jump apart as though we'd been electrocuted. I swore incredibly loudly as my back collided with the desk beside the one I'd been sitting on. Rose was panting like she had just run a race, one hand pressed to her heart.

"Ah, is this an ickle romance...." Peeves sang. "Ickle Scorpius and Rosie getting smoochy..."

"Shut up, Peeves," we chorused, our voices firm.

"Don't want to..." Peeves huffed, pretending to pout. "Peevsie thinks he should shout it from the highest tower... Weasley loves Malfoy... that's a new one."

I glanced at Rose to see that she was blushing furiously, her eyes twice their normal size, staring up at Peeves like a rabbit caught in the headlights.

"Don't you dare..." I warned, my eyes narrowing.

"I'll say nothing if you say please," he trilled.

"Please," Rose whispered.

"NOTHING!" Peeves yelled, and then clutched his sides, cackling.

"Peeves... you know whose niece this is, right?" I said, improvising as I went along.

"Harry Potter?" he asked.

"No... well, yes, but _George Weasley's._" I emphasised the name.

"So?" Peeves demanded, unimpressed.

"So... You respect George. You like George. He gave Filch hell for you. Can't you return the favour by being nice to his family?"

Peeves thought it over for a moment, tapping his chin. Then, grudgingly, he nodded. "I want this classroom to make a mess in."

I gestured around me openly. "It's all yours."

Dragging Rose by the hand, I pulled her into the main thoroughfare of students. We dropped hands like we'd both been hit with a stinging jinx as soon as we were among the others. Business as usual.

"Don't ever bother me again unless you're dying, Weasley," I spat, with as much venom as I could muster. "Then I'll want to come and gloat, but before... leave me alone."

"God, you're insufferable!" she snorted, before storming away into the crowd.

_I love you. _I wanted to call after her. But playing the part of the pantomime villain, I didn't.

I just watched her go, feeling her drag a piece of myself along with her.


	11. The Bigger They Are The Harder They Fall

**Albus**

_Third Year, Third Term_

"POTTER SCORES! TEN POINTS TO SLYTHERIN!" Lorcan Scamander cried from the commentator's box, and I gnashed my teeth together in annoyance. _Damn Lily. Why did she have to start school and get sorted into Slytherin and then absolutely blow everyone away at Quidditch tryouts_... It had to be _his _father that got rid of the 'no first years on the Quidditch teams' rule, didn't it?

I circled above the crowd, searching every corner of the pitch for the snitch I knew was around somewhere. Nothing.

"Slytherin! Slytherin! Slytherin!" The green and silver clad supporters cheered. From a couple of feet below me I saw Malfoy pulling his broom into a dive and then doing a loop-the-loop. Showing off for his adoring fans.

Ugh.

Lily finished her lap of honour by high-fiving Scorpius as she passed. I growled. Why did she have to be all chummy with my arch-nemesis... Rose was the only one who had my back on that front, obviously.

Just then, Malfoy pulled his broom into a dive, rocketing towards the ground at a speed so fast it turned him into a green blur. There was only one thing that could mean. The snitch. The Slytherin supporters jumped to their feet, screaming encouragement at their seeker.

But the Gryffindors were doing the same for me.

I bolted after Scorpius like a bullet from a gun, racing him towards the ground. We were going so fast that it made my eyes water. Just before we hit the ground, Scorpius pulled the nose of his broom up and spiralled off. The Slytherins whooped.

He had just pulled a Wronski Feint. I tugged my broom upwards, just grazing the grass of the pitch with my boots. I ground my teeth together again. How in Merlin's name did he do that? I had been practicing with my dad, and I hadn't managed yet.

Jealousy clouded my vision green. I put on a burst of speed to push myself back above the rest of the players again.

I had to win this match. I was more determined than ever before.

I circled again, keeping my eyes peeled for even the slightest glint of gold.

I dived slightly, my thoughts full of venom towards Malfoy, and drew level with Roxanne, one of the Gryffindor beaters. And my cousin, so anti-Malfoy.

"Hey, Al," she greeted me. I nodded.

"Do me a favour?" I asked. She paused, waiting for me to continue.

"What?"

"Knock Malfoy off his bloody broom."

Roxy grinned. "My pleasure."

Satisfied, I permitted myself a smile before flying off in the direction of the Slytherin goalposts.

"Louis Weasley in possession of the Quaffle, he dives, dodges past Montague, passes to Jordan, Jordan passes back to Weasley and... WEASLEY SCORES! TEN POINTS TO GRYFFINDOR!"

I looked down to see Louis bowing to his adoring fans, a huge grin plastered all over his face. I clapped him enthusiastically from my broom, joining in with the cheers of the crowd.

"Potter dives the bludger knocked her way by cousin Fred Weasley, and she swoops to one side to avoid chaser Lucy... wow, the Weasley family dominate this pitch, huh? Potter passes to Nott, who passes to Montague, back to Potter..."

I swooped out of the way suddenly as a bludger came hurtling up to meet me.

"And Albus Potter dodges the bludger knocked his way by Aiden Selwyn, nice shot, but not nice enough... oh, James Potter takes possession of the Quaffle, who'd have seen that coming... Lily looks pretty angry... Whoa! James in nearly decapitated by a bludger, really nice shot from Elvess, and drops the Quaffle. His sister takes it back again, gosh, she's on a rampage, and... POTTER... Lily Potter that is.... SCORES!"

The Slytherins erupted again.

I groaned. Why did I have to practice with my sister all summer? Why did I have to make her good?

"Scorpius Malfoy..." I was sickened to hear shrieks coming from his fan girls watching as Lorcan said his name. Like Scorpius needed an ego boost. "...seems to have seen the snitch!"

"He's feinting, _again_," I muttered under my breath.

But he wasn't. I noticed too late the gleam of gold close to his left hand, and I pulled my broom into a vertical dive to catch up, the wind whistling past my ears, obliterating all other noise.

Scorpius was going to beat me. He was going to win. I couldn't handle it. No. No, he couldn't. He wouldn't.

I heard a deafening crack, and then a gasp, and suddenly a whistle being blown. I slowed, thinking the match had ended. Until I saw the snitch still dancing before my eyes. I didn't grab it... the match had been stopped, there would be no point.

I looked around to see why, and immediately spotted it. Scorpius Malfoy was sprawled across the ground in the centre of the pitch, having fallen from his broom.

"Oh!" I gasped, looking around in panic. I slowly brought my broom in to land as the crowd figured out what was going on. As one, all the students of Hogwarts began to shriek and scream and gasp and holler. But there was one voice, one scream, which actually managed to be louder than all the others.

"SCORPIUS!"

A redheaded figure was hurtling across the grass towards the cluster of teachers and players surrounding Malfoy, her face whiter than a sheet and her eyes about four times their usual circumference.

Rose.

She stopped only when she reached the gaggle of people, just as I came in to land. I walked in the same direction, my legs feeling like they had been filled with lead whilst I was in the air.

I saw the tears pouring down my cousin's face, and it suddenly hit me.

She was just being nice to me. She didn't hate Scorpius at all.

What kind of person did it make me that meant that I actually had the nerve to feel betrayed when Scorpius could possibly be dead?

I didn't think I wanted to know the answer to that question.

"Is he okay, is he okay?" Rose was garbling.

"He's breathing. He'll be fine," Madam Hooch said slowly, and Rose's shoulders sagged in relief.

I wondered why I felt relieved as well. I hated Scorpius.

Maybe there's a part of you, buried deep down, that means that once you make a best friend, they'll always be there.

Even if you want to kill them, they're still your best friend.

All of a sudden, I wasn't mad at Rosie anymore.


	12. Bedside Manners

**Rose**

_Third Year, Third Term_

Scorpius was still asleep. Or unconscious, I wasn't quite sure. It was as though someone had put a permanent sticking charm on my seat. That was the way it should be, in my opinion. I was angry about his so called friends... they had stayed for an hour long vigil over his sickbed, and then danced off to get back to whatever they were doing beforehand.

I was the only one who stayed.

"Rose, dear, are you sure you don't want to go to bed?" Madam Pomfrey asked, indicating the incredibly dark sky outside the window. I shook my head.

"I want to stay. I wouldn't be able to sleep, anyway."

"You must really like this boy," Madam Pomfrey said, smiling. I opened my mouth to tell her that it wasn't what she thought, but I closed it again. It was exactly like she thought.

As Madam Pomfrey drifted off towards her office again, I gazed down at Scorpius. He looked so peaceful when he was asleep. His eyelashes cast shadows on his pale cheeks, his chest rising and falling slowly with each breath. He was undeniably handsome, and I wasn't even trying to deny my attraction to him anymore. I loved him, and I knew it was stupid, and I knew he didn't feel the same way about me, and I knew I was going to end up getting myself hurt in the end, probably, but I didn't care.

It was worth it.

I reached down and tentatively took his hand, feeling how cold his skin was in comparison to my own. I gave his fingers a gentle squeeze, trying to transfer a bit of my heat to him.

A shadow fell across the bed, and I turned round to see a red eyed Sophie Avery standing behind me.

"Hello, Rose," she murmured, and I nodded in response, shocked at her presence. She moved silently to the other side of the bed, stretching out her hand as though she were about to lay it on Scorpius's arm, and then letting it fall, evidently deciding against it. I was glad – I felt incredibly territorial of him, which I knew was unfair.

"How is he?" Sophie asked, and I watched as she sank gracefully into the chair at the other side of his bed. I was electrically aware that Sophie was very pretty, and also very close to Scorpius. Those two things were a dangerous combination.

"About the same as before," I said slowly. Maybe I could win her round. Keep your friends close and all that... "Madam Pomfrey repaired his broken ribs."

Sophie nodded solemnly. "And he hasn't woken up?"

I felt my face fall as I answered. "No."

"Rose... can I say something to you, no holds barred?"

I glanced up at her in surprise. She was watching me with her cat-green eyes, not moving.

"Yes." I answered hesitantly.

"I think... you should keep away from Scor."

I hated hearing her call him by his nickname. But I hated what she was saying all the more. "Why?"

"Because I care about him too... and every time you give him false hope to stay friends like this, it breaks his heart when you snatch it away. And just as he's recovering... you do it all over again."

I blinked, stunned. Clearly Scorpius hadn't clued Sophie in to our 'be friends on the sly' plan. Or maybe he had, and this was just how he was feeling about it? I didn't have a clue.

"I can't just... stop caring. Sorry, Sophie, but I can't," I whispered. She didn't speak for a long moment, just allowed her eyes – nearly as green as Albus's – to swivel between me and our mutual friend's sleeping form.

"I know that," Sophie sighed deeply, her hair fluttering as she did so. "But I wish you could, because..."

She didn't finish her sentence, but I knew what she was going to say. My stomach lurched uncomfortably. "You like him."

She neither confirmed nor denied it, which was all the conformation I needed. Sophie had a crush on Scorpius... I instantly felt wary.

"You're hurting him, Rose. And you're annoying the hell out of me. You might think you know Scorpius, but just remember that I know him, too, and what you're doing is crushing him. If you cared at all, you'd stop. That's all I'm saying."

"So you can have a clear shot at him, you mean?" I challenged. I had no idea what made me say that. I had never been hostile to anyone like that before.

Her eyes narrowed. "Look, just because I like him doesn't mean I'm not telling you the truth. Besides... I like a challenge, Rose. Having you in the picture would only make it more interesting... that is, if you were actually in the picture, not flitting in and out of it so fast that you're making my eyes water."

"He likes me more," I said confidently, feeling the smug grin on my face but not being able to control it.

Sophie gave me a wry smile. "For now. But who is gonna be the one picking up the pieces when you decide that blood is thicker than crushes? Me."

My eyes narrowed at this unpleasant information.

"See, Rose? You're just being selfish. You don't even want to consider that it would be much better for Scor if you just left him the hell alone, and you _know_ that that's the case, or else you wouldn't get so defensive." Sophie crossed her arms, pleased with her argument. For once, I was speechless. Was I really being selfish in continuing my friendship with Scorpius. _I love him_.

Sophie's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "More than Albus?" It was only then that I realised that I'd said those last words out loud. My skin burned with embarrassment.

Did I love Scorpius more than Albus...? I met Sophie's gaze evenly. "I don't know."

"Yes, you do. If you loved Scor the most, you wouldn't have gone along with avoiding him, like Albus wanted. You would have stood up to him. Your family comes first, Rose."

I felt a horrible sinking feeling in my gut. She was right. Did that mean she was right about everything else, too?

"Maybe you're right, Sophie," I whispered, hating the words even as they came out of my mouth. "But did you know that I never once said to Scor that he wasn't my friend? We agreed to pretend we weren't speaking, so as to cause an argument."

Sophie scowled. "I don't think so."

"When he wakes up, ask him," I replied, not breaking eye contact for a second.

"I'm not taking it back," Sophie responded curtly.

"I don't want you to. You might be onto something," I admitted reluctantly. If Scor was depressed by our arrangements, maybe...

"Did you know he's dating Tia Goldstein on the DL?" she asked suddenly, like she was sharing a great confidence with me. And then I saw what she was trying to do; bonding two adversaries over a common enemy.

"No," I replied through gritted teeth, and she shared with me a look of controlled fury.

"She's not even pretty," Sophie scoffed, and I nodded. She was, of course, but anything to make ourselves feel better.

"And she's about as smart as a mountain troll," I answered cuttingly. Sophie grinned.

"Hey, is it true that your dad knocked out a mountain troll in his first year here?" she asked, looking hopeful.

"Yes," I laughed. "With his own club."

Sophie giggled, impressed. "I wish I could knock out Tia Goldstein with a troll's club."

I smiled. "I know the feeling."

"How come most boys have to struggle to win the affections of _one_ girl, and Scorp gets three without even trying?"

Sophie's question was one I had just been asking myself. I told her my reasoning.

"Because he's Scorpius."

Sophie nodded as though my logic made perfect sense. To us, it did.


	13. Who Said Chivalry Wasn't Dead?

**Scorpius**

_Third Year, Last Term_

"Wake up!" I felt something hit me heavily on the head, and my eyes fluttered open.

"Ughh?" Okay, I wasn't particularly eloquent in the morning. So sue me. Sophie's face suddenly came into focus, and I had to admit, it was a damn sight nicer than seeing Ferdinand like I'd expected. What wasn't nice, though, was the fact that she had managed to get into the boys' dormitory, and was currently bouncing around on my bed, fully clothed, while I lay here in nothing but pyjama bottoms. I felt my face redden slightly.

"Soph, what the hell are you doing in here?" I demanded. She smiled wickedly.

"Good morning to you, too, sunshine," was her only response. I stuck my tongue out at her, and poked her in the side, getting her to clamber off my bed so that I could get up.

I slid from my thick duvet, and shivered as my feet came into contact with the frigid floor. Why was the floor so cold even in summer?

Sophie's eyes suddenly didn't know where to look, and I grinned to myself, enjoying the effect I was creating. I made a show of stretching out, displaying my Quidditch physique in a nonchalant way. Sophie blushed, and I chuckled.

"When you're done showing off, Scor," she said cuttingly, and I was still snickering as I fastened the last button on the shirt she had handed me.

"Like you didn't appreciate it," I teased, and she rolled her eyes at me.

"Did you do your transfiguration essay?" she asked suddenly, and I swore at the top of my lungs. She giggled.

"I forgot. Crap, Soph, what am I gonna do?" I looked around desperately for someone else's essay to steal. Ferdinand's lay on top of his trunk – he had left it there while he went down for breakfast. I wouldn't steal that, though... it would be painfully obvious that it wasn't mine, because I never got less than 90% on a piece of graded homework, and Ferd certainly wasn't even close to that.

"Never fear... I have a spare one..." Sophie came to my rescue, pulling out a perfect essay from the pocket of her robes. I took it incredulously, scanning through the words. It looked like my writing... but I could tell when I dissected a couple of the sentences that it was written in Sophie's style. Professor Bell wouldn't be able to, though.

"You... wrote this... for me?" The words sounded wrong. Sophie doing anything nice... now that sounded wrong. I loved Sophie precisely because she was mischievous and ruthless, and so sarcastically funny that it made my sides hurt.

"Well, I mean, you've been really busy with Quidditch practice..." she mumbled, casting her eyes to the ground. I stared at her like she was a creature from outer space for a minute, and then felt reassured when her gaze flashed up to meet mine.

"Look, don't make a big deal, okay? I don't want people thinking that I'm nice or anything. I must have been having a kind of brain freeze day."

I grinned, and shot her a wink. "Your secret's safe with me. But seriously, Soph... wow. Thanks, you are such a lifesaver!"

She shrugged, and then mock glared at me. "Is this you not making a big deal? 'Cause you suck at it."

I chortled. "Sorry."

When we reached the Great Hall, I nodded a sombre hello to Albus as I passed him in the doorway, and he nodded back. We were cordial to each other ever since I nearly died on the Quidditch pitch, which was an improvement. Rose seemed more relaxed about us still being friends, anyway.

I offered to let Sophie walk in front of me through the door, and her eyebrows shot up so far and so fast that she got an instant facelift.

"What are you, a Gryffindor?" she accused. I pretended to be wounded.

"No, my mummy says I'm a very polite young man." Sophie laughed and shook her head despairingly, before disappearing through the double doors. I was about to follow her, when I heard my name being called.

"Uh... Scor?"

I glanced round to find Rose, barely visible from an alcove, beckoning me with her hand. I half-jogged to where she was, and squeezed myself into the small space, feeling a little bit irritated that I had grown again. Being small must've had its advantages... Rose certainly seemed to have enough room.

"Yeah?" I asked, as soon as I got there.

"I just wanted to talk to you," she confessed. My ego seemed to expand at her words.

"Could we maybe talk somewhere less claustrophobic?" I requested, sinking to my knees to avoid a crick in my neck. Feeling like I suddenly had much more space, I shifted so that I was sitting on the floor, cross-legged, like I was a little kid all over again. Rosie sank to the ground beside me.

"Are you okay now?"

"Yeah, it'll do."

"How's your head?" Rose had been asking me the exact same question for the past two months, ever since my Quidditch debacle. My answer was always the same.

"Healed."

"Scor, I have to tell you something," she blurted out suddenly. I frowned.

"Okay..."

"Tia Goldstein is going out with Kian Finnigan," she informed me.

"Uh-huh," I answered, nodding along. "And your point?"

"She's... she's cheating on you," Rose whispered, confusion wrinkling her forehead. I smiled at her like she was completely daft. Which she was, in this instance.

"Uh, Rose? We broke up, like, a month ago." I measured her expression for any signs of relief, or happiness. I was disappointed; if there were any, she had an excellent poker face. "Wait... who told you we were going out?"

Rose, to my surprise, blushed furiously. "No-no-one. I figured it out."

I had almost accepted this as fact, when I realised her mistake. "You're lying," I accused.

"I'm not!" she replied hotly.

"You stuttered."

Her lips pressed together in a thin line. Did she think I hadn't remembered that she stuttered whenever she wasn't telling the truth? She didn't give me enough credit, evidently.

"I... okay, Sophie told me," she confessed.

"My Sophie?" I asked, frowning. I was confused.

"_Your_ Sophie?" she repeated, putting a disdainful emphasis on the word _your_. Oh... I realised what she must have read into that, and chewed my lip.

"No, I didn't mean it like that," I muttered, embarrassed. "I just meant my friend Sophie."

"Why didn't you say that then?" she snapped. I raised one eyebrow at her, smirking.

"Are you jealous?" I asked. Her face turned an unhealthy shade of pillar-box red.

"N-no!" she replied crossly. I grinned... she had stuttered.

"You are too! You're jealous!" I crowed, unexpectedly gleeful at that idea. "You're jealous of Sophie!"

"I'm not!" she spat, her blue eyes flashing – I swear – red for a second. I stopped teasing her abruptly.

"I wish that you were," I muttered, too quiet for her to hear.

"Okay, well, apparently you know anyway, so I guess I don't really need to..." Rose trailed off, struggling to get to her feet. She had almost made it out of our secluded hiding place, when I grabbed her wrist and held on with a grip like quicksand.

"Don't," I begged. "Stay and talk to me."

"Why should I? All you're going to do is poke fun at me."

Rose was far too sensitive sometimes. "I'm sorry, okay?" She wavered for a second. "Please don't go," I begged, giving her my best puppy dog eyes. She giggled.

"Okay, okay, I – ah!"

I tugged on her arm and sent her tumbling into my lap, not really realising that was where she would end up until she was already almost nose-to-nose with me. I was suddenly flustered.

"Um... I didn't... uh..."

"You... I... yeah... um..." Both of us trailed off at the same time, grinning awkwardly at each other.

Rose shifted her weight, like she was about to move, and it was like a sudden fog lifted from my brain. I snatched her wrist back into my grasp, preventing her from going anywhere.

"Rose." My voice was low and serious. She regarded me, her eyes burning with some emotion I wasn't sure of.

I tugged on her arm, pulling her towards me. She moved without encouragement, her hands slipping out of my grasp as her lips met mine. Her arms slipped around my neck at the same time as my tongue slipped into her mouth.

I couldn't help it. I had promised myself I would slowly wean myself off Rose, taking it day by day until it didn't bother me being apart from her. Who was I fooling?

She was kissing me back, and just as enthusiastically as I was kissing her. I couldn't help but compare it to Tia. When she had kissed me, it seemed, well, almost perfunctionary. I just kissed her because that was sort of the requirement of a boyfriend.

When I was kissing Rose, it was suddenly as though I didn't need oxygen, like it would actually hurt me to break away from her. Every time she paused to draw breath, every time her lips parted from mine for a second, I would practically claw my way out of my skin trying to kiss her again. Her breathing was ragged, as was mine, and I was starting to feel slightly dizzy from head rush.

Rose pulled away suddenly, pressing her forehead into my shoulder and gasping like someone had just tried to drown her. I looked away from her, towards the slice of the rest of the school that I could see out of the opening of the alcove, trying to control myself, to regulate my own breathing.

Until I felt Rose's hand pull my face back round, her lips pressing back into mine insistently. I didn't care about the rest of the school anymore... in my little bubble, there was only room for me and Rose.


	14. Gloves and Promises

**Rose**

_Fourth Year, First Term_

"Roxy, that's not the point, and you know it!" Lucy said huffily, pointing a sausage at her sternly. I snorted into my plate of Lasagne. I loved the day before Halloween, and I wasn't entirely sure why. I think it was the excitement of tomorrow's feast, where Professor Longbottom, Head of Gryffindor, had decided we should all come in fancy dress.

"How isn't that the point?" Roxy challenged. "Professor McGonagall says that fancy dress is customary."

"Yeah, but going dressed as a house elf?" Lucy scoffed. "That's a – what's the muggle phrase? – a lawsuit waiting to happen."

"Why? It's not racism. It's just fancy dress!" Roxy argued.

James rolled his eyes at me from across the table, and I grinned. He pointed at Louis, who was sitting next to him, and mimed him swooning over Violet Brown. I bit back a laugh.

"You want to listen to Lucy, Rox." Fred put in wisely, gazing at his fifteen year old sister with amusement twinkling in his eyes.

"Why would I want to do that?" she asked dangerously, and Al nudged me in the side, with a 'here we go' expression on his face.

"Because, she's a _prefect_," Fred said, his eyes all twinkly with mock reverence. Everyone except Lucy burst out laughing. Luce just flicked mashed potato at Fred's head.

"You sound like Grandma," Al, James, Roxy and I chorused.

Hugo was completely away with the fairies from where he sat beside Roxy, his eyes wide and his expression blank. I grinned at him. My brother was really dopey.

"Of course, being a prefect isn't as good as being _Head Girl_!" James, Louis and Fred chorused as one, shouting over to where Molly sat at the Ravenclaw table, the shiny Head Girl badge plain on her chest. Molly rolled her eyes and ignored them, opting instead to pick up a conversation with Lorcan Scamander. He caught my eye and grinned.

"I wonder how lonely Lily is?" Fred said abruptly, craning his neck to see over to the Slytherin table. "She's stuck over there with the snakes..."

James and Louis hissed theatrically. Al shook his head at them.

"Uh, guys? Lily is one of the 'snakes'." He made air quotes with his fingers, laughing. I glanced behind me to see Lily laughing hysterically at something Lysander Scamander had said. It had been a bit of a shock to us all when those two were put in Slytherin, but then, I suppose, they were always scheming little so and sos.

My eyes locked for a minute with a pair of stormy grey ones, and I felt the colour rise in my cheeks. I had barely spoken to Scorpius since I kissed him in the Entrance Hall, and that was way back in _June_. Sure, we had sent owls to each other over summer as usual, but I had been avoiding a face-to-face conversation between us where it would just be me and him. I was a bit scared of what to say to him. I didn't really know what he was thinking, most of the time, and that unsettled me. I was used to _knowing_ the answers. So I had managed to weasel out of it for four months.

It was unavoidable today though. It was Scorpius's birthday, and I had to give him his present.

Fifteen. It was really weird that he was nearly a whole year older than me. My birthday was in July, so by the time it got all the way round... Scorpius was nearly at his next one.

"Rosie? Earth calling Rosie!" James waved his hand in front of my face. "Wow, you're nearly as dippy as your brother!"

"Hey!" Hugo protested weakly, but everyone just gave him a disparaging look.

"Sorry, I... uh... zoned out," I explained, swinging my legs over the bench. "Um... I'm gonna... I'll see you in the common room."

I stood up and walked away, leaving my bewildered family staring after me.

As I passed the Slytherin table, I stared determinedly ahead, trying not to make eye contact with Scor at all. I succeeded, and I ducked out of the oak doors, breathing a sigh of relief.

* * *

I had one foot on the staircase before I heard my name.

"Rose." He said it softly, quietly, but it echoed in the empty hall, and I'd recognise it anywhere.

"Follow me," I instructed, and began to ascend the staircase. I didn't want to stay in the Entrance Hall – it was too public. I carried on up to the third floor, before stopping abruptly at a statue of a one-eyed witch. I heard Scorpius's footsteps halt after me. I pulled out my wand, and tapped the witch's hump.

"Dissendium," I muttered, and a passageway opened to admit me. "Inside," I murmured to Scorpius, and lifted myself off the floor to clamber through. I slipped a bit on the stone, and instantly his hands shot out to catch me, lifting me easily from around my waist.

It felt like his fingers were searing through my skin, and I held my breath to see if it would lessen the sudden pounding of my heart. It didn't.

When Scorpius had dropped into the tunnel beside me, he took a look around him at his surroundings. He was hunched over to avoid scraping his head or shoulders against the passageway.

"You sure like your small spaces, don't you Rosie?" he said dryly, sitting down again to avoid breaking his back. I remained standing, dithering, trying to stop my knees from shaking. It didn't do much good.

"Happy Birthday," I said eventually.

"Thanks," he replied, every bit as awkward.

"I got you a present," I told him, shuffling my feet on the ground. He smiled hopefully, like he hadn't been expecting me to get him anything. I instantly felt guilty. Had I been avoiding him that much?

"Is it invisible?" he asked, smirking. I rolled my eyes, feeling a little of my tension be relieved.

"No... but..." I dug my hand into the pocket of my robes and pulled out a small package. "Here."

Scorpius reached out his hand slowly, his pale skin almost glowing in the darkness. "Thank you."

"You shouldn't thank me before you open it," I replied gravely. "It's not much..."

I watched nervously as he tore into the paper, my heart drumming a new rhythm against my ribcage. He pulled the paper off in one sweeping motion that I couldn't have managed half as gracefully, and studied the object lying in his palm.

"Is that...?" he breathed, looking totally amazed.

"The glove that caught the Holyhead Harpies' eighth win in the championship? Yeah. Aunt Ginny told me I could have it, and I knew that you loved her team, so..." I trailed off, unsure of how to finish my sentence.

Scorpius grinned. "Wow."

"Do you really like it?" I fretted. I had been obsessively worried that he wouldn't. He looked at me like I'd lost my mind.

"Duh!" he answered, rolling his eyes. I laughed. His eyes suddenly clouded over, as a memory came rushing back to him. "Hey, Rosie... do you remember when I promised you that I'd give you the first snitch I ever caught?"

"Yeah," I replied, smiling. "You never did."

"No, but I saved – you know, it doesn't matter. So...?"

The awkwardness expanded between us like a physical barrier once again.

"Scor, we need to talk about what happened," I sighed.

He nodded slowly. "Yeah. This is just getting awkward."

I raised my eyebrows at him. "_Getting_ awkward?"

He chuckled. "Okay, it's been awkward for a while," he admitted.

"What happened... you know... what do you...?" I wasn't being very articulate.

He stared at me for a second, seeming to be trying to read my face. Then he spoke in a calm, even tone. "I kissed you. You kissed me. Let's just leave it at that."

My heart sank, but I feigned relief. "Like midsummer madness?"

He smirked. "Right. So we'll just draw a line under it."

I didn't want to draw a line under it, but Scor obviously did. "Yeah," I answered dispassionately.

"Okay, then we're sorted. Right?"

"Right."

We stared at each other for a minute, never flinching from the other's gaze. As I looked at him, I wondered how he could be so incredibly dense about the way I felt. That's why I didn't manage to control the question that bubbled to my lips.

"What are we, Scor?"

"Eh?"

"What am I to you?"

He looked at me hesitantly, as though he wanted to say something but didn't quite trust himself to speak. "You're my best friend," he said slowly. I nodded, not letting him know that he'd just delivered another knife to the heart.

"Good. Okay. Well, then, enjoy your birthday," I said, with a smile as false as plastic. I turned away to climb out of the passageway, but his voice stopped me.

"Rosie?" Before I turned around, an image flashed through my mind of him standing at my shoulder, ready to pull me round into a kiss again. My heart thumped violently.

When I actually turned, however, he was still sitting on the ground, staring at his shoes pensively.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"I will give you that snitch. I promise." His eyes blazed with his words, and I nodded helplessly, butterflies crashing around in my stomach.

"Bye, Scor," I murmured shakily, and made a swift exit.

As my legs hit the stone floor of the corridor, they nearly gave way. I felt dizzy, and faint, and nauseous, and a million and one other things that should be unpleasant but weren't.

I walked away with my legs feeling like jelly.

* * *

**A/N: Wow, Sundays really seem to be my day for updating... I may well see if I can make it four in one day... though my record is five, so I just might try to break it. I'd better get writing!**


	15. The Other Side of The Keyhole

**Scorpius**

_Fourth Year, Second Term_

I slouched against the wall as I waited for Potions to start. Professor Slughorn really was taking his time getting out of bed this morning, but then again, he was pretty old. It was kind of a miracle that he was still teaching... and it couldn't be denied that he was a good teacher.

Joseph Corner, a guy I had only recently gotten to know and discovered I liked, was jabbering on about the Yule Ball, and Ferdinand, Dashell and Rowan were all joining in. I didn't even want to think about it, to be honest. The Ball, and finding a date for said ball, was just one more trouble that I didn't want to add to my list.

Thankfully, Sophie seemed to share my pain. That was why the two of us were leaning casually against the wall, each one of us pretending to doze off in turn. The Yule Ball was right up there on my list of things I couldn't give a stuff about, along with Celestina Warbeck's songs, girls' pampering routines, and Divination.

"I wonder if Tia will go with me... Oh, sorry, Scor, you wouldn't care, would you?" Joseph checked. That did it.

"No, Joe, I don't give a Hippogriff's hind quarters who you take to the sodding ball! I don't care! I really, really, really don't! And you three," I rounded on the three Slytherin boys, pointing at each of them in turn, "are just encouraging him! Stop it! You are worse than the girls! Look at Sophie!" I gestured to the girl standing on my left, "She isn't making a big deal, is she? No! Know why? 'Cause she's normal!" I broke off abruptly, realising how badly I'd just lost the plot and feeling embarrassed.

"Okay, Scor..." Rowan said nervously, laughing. I could tell he was uncomfortable.

"And personally," I began in a more polite tone, "I think the whole idea of a Yule Ball is just stupid." I rolled my eyes in exasperation.

Joseph looked like he was about to burst with the need to ask me a question. I waved him on, bracing myself.

"Who are you taking, Scor? I bet you won't have any trouble finding a date!"

I sighed. That was perhaps the biggest problem with the ball. I didn't miss the way Sophie's head jerked up at the mention of my date either. In truth, I wanted to ask Rose, but I knew she'd never go with me.

"I don't know yet. I'll have to think."

Sophie seemed slightly mollified. I knew that I'd ask her if I couldn't take Rose, and I knew that it was unfair of me to use her like that. Truth was, I really did enjoy Sophie's company.

"Hey, in case all the girls are taken before you decide, I expect you could always take Weasley!" Ferd teased, and the boys all roared with laughter. Sophie was the only one who didn't... because she was the only one who knew that I was only pretending that I hated her guts.

It was because I was feeling wretched for Soph, and because I wanted to keep up appearances that I said, "Weasley? Why in Merlin's name would I ever ask her? Of all the girls at Hogwarts... she looks like a troll that someone experimented on and accidentally shrunk... only with ginger hair and spattergroit!"

The boys laughed nastily, or more sycophantically, I supposed, because they didn't really think that. They just agreed with whatever I said. Sophie didn't laugh though. In fact, she looked at me like... like she was disappointed. Like I'd failed to live up to some expectation she had of me. I immediately felt ashamed of myself.

"How can you be that mean?" she mouthed at me. "You know you don't think that..."

It was bizarre how even girls that didn't like each other could join forces against anyone. "Sorry," I mouthed back.

"Hey, Scor, you dropped one of your quills over there." Joseph's voice suddenly snapped me out of my shame spiral. I glanced to where he was pointing, and sure enough, there lay my peacock feather quill. I moved away from the group to retrieve it.

As I scooped it up in my hand, I heard a stifled sniff, and my gaze snapped up. I straightened up slowly, and half-hidden by a pillar, allowed my mouth to fall open in horror.

Rose stood in the shadows, her back pressed closely against the wall and tears streaming down her cheeks. _Oh Merlin..._ she'd heard me. She'd heard what I'd said.

_No. No, Rose, why are you crying? You know it's not true! Why are you... Rose..._

"How could you be that cruel?" she whispered at me, and I winced as her voice cracked. _It wasn't true... Oh, God, what had I done?_ I swallowed hard around what felt like a grapefruit sized lump in my throat.

"I didn't mean it," I answered, begging for forgiveness with my eyes. Surely she knew that...

She stared at me for a long moment, and only then, when anger and doubt and self-loathing flashed in her eyes, did I see how badly I'd broken her. The Cruciatus curse couldn't have hurt as much as that did.

"Yeah? Well, I mean this. I hate you, Scorpius Malfoy. I really, truly hate you. And you drove me to it." The anger in her words was terrible, but the meaning was worse. I could tell; she truly meant what she said. She hated me.

I felt like I was about to pass out. The room swam around me. No, this couldn't be happening... Rose couldn't be looking at me like that. She couldn't hate me... I loved her.

Immediately, my defences went up, to save my heart from cracking in two. I adopted an apathetic mask, hoping that I could keep the hurt and agony off my face.

"Weasley, don't lurk behind pillars. You know what they say about eavesdroppers," I said in a loud voice.

Rose actually gasped, and I wondered for a second if I had just ruined any chance of salvation, before my brain shut down again. It was too painful to think.

"What do they say, Malfoy?" she asked me, a challenge.

"That they never hear good of themselves. And you certainly didn't," I replied coolly, feeling my insides rip painfully as my friends jeered.

"I wouldn't stand too close to me for the next few years then, Malfoy. I'd take your own advice," Rose threatened, narrowing her eyes. All those times we had play acted at this... and now it was real. Well, for her.

"I wouldn't – spattergroit is contagious." Another laugh.

"I was talking about eavesdropping," Rose snarled.

"But it only affects you if you actually care, Weasley," I said clinically. _Which I do. So much_.

"Hate is a strong word Malfoy, but for you, not strong enough," she spat viciously at me.

"That hurt, Weasley," I drawled. It did. Surely she could see that?

She just glared at me, so I did the only thing I knew how to do when things got tough.

I walked away.


	16. The Yule Debacle

**Rose**

_Fourth Year, Second Term_

The Yule Ball. It was finally here.

And I couldn't think of a single thing I wanted to go to less. Well, except for my own execution, I supposed. But then, that is precisely what this ball felt like. Everyone was getting all dressed up in fancy clothes and going off in pairs to have little dances and whisper sweet nothings into each other's ears.

And I was going to be expected to do this with Ryan Thomas. Don't get me wrong, Ryan was sweet, and nice, and very polite, charming and unassuming, but there was just one problem.

He wasn't Scorpius.

As much as it pained me to admit it, I still wished that he had asked me. I still wished that we were friends.

Who was I kidding? I was never friends with him! Why did I keep deluding myself? I loved him, and he didn't feel the same way. End of story. It was too painful to think about him right now, so I opted for trying to black out any part of my brain that refused to stop thinking about Scorpius Malfoy.

Which meant that most of my brain was in utter darkness.

Al noticed the change. He had been pestering me for days, begging to know why I was so quiet. Lucy and Roxy had been doing the same, but I ignored them all. The only one who hadn't asked so far was Lily, and I had a sneaking suspicion that this was because she knew already.

She was always the intuitive one. And she actually liked... _no, stop thinking about him. Stop it, Rose_.

I examined myself in the mirror critically, twisting this way and that. The emerald green of my dress really did suit my skin tone, although it made me look like I should be in Slytherin. _Or, at least going with a Slytherin... cut it out!_ It was cut neatly to me, defining curves I wasn't even aware that I had. A full face of perfectly applied make-up hid a multitude of sins.

Yes, I looked pretty, but if you examined me too closely, you would see how tired my eyes were, how desperately slack my facial muscles were. I hadn't smiled in days. Sparing my reflection one last glance, I swept from the room.

"Whoa, Rosie, you look nice!" Al said cheerfully when he saw me. I tried to smile, but I thought it contorted into a grimace halfway across my face, so I settled for a 'thank you.' He looked at me suspiciously.

"You look very... tidy," I decided, looking at his smart attire and presentable hair. He had clearly gone to a lot of effort.

"Well, got to dress to impress, haven't I?" he grinned, twirling so that I could get the full effect of his outfit. I nodded, pretending to be impressed.

"Marissa is going to love you," I told him, and he beamed.

"We can only hope," he answered. A tall figure approached, and I looked up into the excited face of Ryan Thomas.

"Rosie, you look gorgeous!" he enthused. I actually managed a small smile this time, which I was pleased about.

"You look really nice, too."

"Marissa is waiting in the Entrance Hall, Al, and she is dolled up to the nines. She must fancy you mate!" Ryan punched Al lightly on the shoulder.

"Come on!" I rolled my eyes at the both of them, and turned to sweep from the room, tripping over my own foot as I did. I staggered until Ryan caught me. Ugh. Why couldn't I be more graceful, more suave, like...

_Rose, stop thinking about him!_

* * *

The Great Hall looked like a fairytale. Lights were floating everywhere, creating a dusky glow, and House Elves were weaving through the crowds with trays full of butterbeer held aloft. I bit back a smile. I wonder what my mother would think of Hogwarts' choice of waiters?

Everyone was looking very presentable, it had to be said. The girls looked sweetly feminine in their dresses, the boys very formal in their dress robes. I smiled at Lily as she waltzed in with Lysander Scamander, noticing how much effort she'd made. I wasn't aware that she had a crush on him until now.

Then my eyes fell on the one person I was desperately trying to avoid seeing. He was wearing green too, only his robes were darker than my dress by a few shades. He wasn't looking in my direction; he was listening to something Sophie Avery – his date, I realised, with a lurch of my stomach – was saying. As she finished, he cracked a smile so beautiful it made my heart ache, and responded with a quick one-liner. Sophie rolled her eyes and burst out laughing.

With a twinge of jealousy, I noticed that she was ten times prettier than I could ever be.

Just then, Scorpius's gaze swept across the room... and landed on me, staring at him. His eyes seemed to widen, then grow so large I thought they were going to pop out of his head, then relax to normal, and finally, they froze over.

Our eye contact broke when Ryan tugged on my arm, leading me away. I went with him out of politeness, when really I wanted to run as fast as I could, until the crowd swallowed me whole.

* * *

The party was raging, and I couldn't handle pretending to be happy for another second. So I snuck out the back door under the pretence of getting some air, and was sitting by the lake, watching the Giant Squid flex his tentacles lazily, before I realised someone had followed me. My head whipped around.

Scorpius was standing behind me.

I had to really work to make my tone unfriendly. "What are you doing here?"

Scorpius didn't shy away from my words. He didn't say anything awful or nasty or spiteful. He just looked at me like nothing in the world made any sense to him except my face.

Then he asked a question of his own. "Why aren't you with Thomas?"

If he thought I was going to answer that, he had a screw loose in his head. I shrugged noncommittally and turned back to watch the glassy surface of the lake as it reflected the moon's light.

"Rose." I hated it when he did that. When he said my name in that low, urgent way. It made my stomach do backflips, it made my bones turn to custard. It made me wish he'd kiss me again.

And that was no good.

"What do you want from me, Scorpius?" I demanded, and I instantly regretted my words. They made me sound so vulnerable.

He considered me, his head cocked to one side, his expression sombre and intense. "I want to take it back. I want you to _let_ me take back what I said."

I glared at him, loathing the way that my heart managed to skip a beat when he said those words. I hated how he made me hope.

"What makes you think you have any chance of that?" I asked in as cold a voice as I could manage, furious that I still felt guilty when the hurt flashed across his face.

"Because... you want me to."

I misinterpreted what he said. I thought he had told me that I _wanted_ him, _too_.

"You think that I want you?" I challenged. I did, badly, but he wasn't sure about that... I hoped.

He blinked, looking completely astonished. "What?" His expression cleared when he understood. "No, no, I meant that you wanted me to apologise." His face looked, if possible, more morose than before.

I blushed a livid shade of red at my mistake. "Well, you're wrong, Malfoy."

"Rose."

"Stop that!" I snapped, losing my apathetic facade. "Stop saying my name like... like..." _Like you care about me. Like I mean something to you. Like it's the last word you'll ever say. _I voiced none of these reasons aloud, merely sucked in my cheeks and turned my face away, as if I were two years old again.

"Rose, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for being an idiot! I'm sorry for saying all those things! You know, you _must_ know that I didn't mean any of them!"

I turned back to him with a stare like ice. "Must I?"

"Yes!" Scorpius threw himself down in the grass, much, much too close for comfort. Not that any extra distance would make our encounter particularly comfortable. At least if he were further away, he wouldn't hear my heart beating. I was sure he must be able to. It was so loud...

"Why?" I shot at him, forcing myself to take deep, even breaths. I was in danger of hyperventilating with him so close to me.

"Because... because I... Rose... surely you know that I think you're beautiful."

My cheeks burned, and I dropped my gaze. _No, he can't be doing this to me again. I won't let him. All he ever does is hurt me... and he doesn't love me. Get out, Rose. Get out while you still can._

"You have a funny way of showing it, Malfoy."

"Rose, please... I... I lo-"

But I couldn't bear to hear it. I didn't want to hear it. He was lying. Albus was right, all Malfoys ever did was lie.

"Go back to Sophie and get out of my life." I filled my voice with as much anger and menace as possible. It came out in a whisper; quiet, but twice as deadly.

"Fine!" he spat, and got to his feet. "Fine, if that's what you want!"

He swept away from me, his robes billowing, and ran back towards the castle. I waited until he was out of earshot, and then buried my face in my hands.

I burst into tears.

* * *

I had recovered enough to go back into the Great Hall, and was weaving my way through the crowd looking for Ryan and Al. I found them over by where the Gryffindor table usually sat, drinking butterbeer and laughing as though they hadn't a care in the world. Marissa Jordan sat on the table behind them. She had her arms around Albus's neck, her chin resting on his shoulder. This display of unity wasn't what I needed right now.

I frowned, and marched away to try and find Lucy or Roxanne, being swallowed by the crowd again as I pushed my way through. I glimpsed Lily sitting on Lysander's lap, playing with his blond curls in a sickeningly couple-y way. Shuddering, I squeezed through a non-existent gap between two seventh years and slipped back out of the double doors, emerging in the quiet entrance hall.

Thankful for the lack of people, I slumped against the door and shut my eyes.

They flew open again when I heard an unmistakeable voice.

"Ow, my head!"

There was a giggle, followed by another very familiar person's words. "Shrink a bit, then, Scor!"

I knew I didn't want to see it. I knew I didn't want to listen. I knew it would hurt me more. But somehow, my body was disobeying the signals from my brain. My legs were carrying me away from the door, but towards the alcove where I knew Scorpius and Sophie were.

I had expected what I was about to see, but I hadn't anticipated how much it would hurt.

Scorpius's arms around Sophie's waist. Her hands tangled in his hair. And both of them kissing fiercely like there was no tomorrow.

I gasped, and the tears spilled down my cheeks without me even being aware of them.

_No!_

They broke apart, and Sophie's eyes widened when she saw me. She looked almost... guilty. Then anguished. Her lips pressed together in a thin line, and she glanced up at Scorpius.

Who was wearing an expression as though someone had cast a full body bind curse on him and was repeatedly crucio-ing him afterwards. His eyes were beyond agony.

I didn't care. I just turned on my heel and ran, needing to go far, far away from him. He didn't love me. He didn't care.

I barely heard Sophie's miserable whisper to him. "Go after her."

I ran as fast as I could, up the staircase and along the first floor corridor. I heard footsteps behind me, and I knew Scorpius would win if it turned into a race. He was so much taller than me, which made him twice as fast. So I took preventative measures.

I skidded to a halt and spun around to face him, whipping out my wand as I did so. He stopped running suddenly.

"I swear on my Mother's life..." I began, my voice thick with tears, but murderous, "If you follow me I will use the Cruciatus curse on you."

The scariest part was, I wasn't kidding.

When I turned and resumed my running, Scorpius didn't pursue me. He just let me go.

I sobbed as I ran, choking on my tears.

My heart was tearing down the fault-line his insults had created. I had thought it had broken before, but I was wrong. There was no pain comparable to this.

By the time I reached my common room, my heart had ripped completely in two.

I closed my eyes and let the misery have me.

_Scorpius._


	17. Hogsmeade

**Scorpius**

_Fourth Year, Second Term_

"- to be honest. But my father doesn't really care what she thinks, because after all, she isn't exactly smart enough to be the authority on everything as she thinks she is, wouldn't you agree, Sophie?" Rowan was wittering on about something that mattered not one tiny little bit, and Sophie bobbed her head in agreement.

"What about you, Scor? What do you think?" Rowan asked me, and I turned to face him with a blank, sardonic expression.

"I don't care."

Ferdinand laughed, but hastily disguised it as a hacking cough when Rowan turned to glare sharply at him. I fought a grin, and resumed my scanning of the street. Hogsmeade was busy today, but Rose seemed to have disappeared off the face of the planet since the Yule Ball.

Merlin, it hurt to even think about it. I couldn't believe I had been so stupid... it was all to get back at her for telling me to run back to Sophie. I had just wanted to know that I had done exactly that, that I didn't need Rose...

But I hadn't expected her to see.

Why was I such an enormous screw-up? Was there something seriously the matter with me? Everything I cared about seemed to eventually implode.

"Scor, are you okay?" Ferd asked me, his brow furrowed. I nodded without any real conviction. I wasn't okay, but I was sure as hell going to suffer in silence.

Then I saw her.

A flash of red curls, and I whipped my head around to see her talking animatedly to a much older guy with a shock of electric blue hair. He was doubled up laughing at whatever she was describing, and she had a wide smile on her face.

Jealousy seethed inside me, and before I knew what I was doing, I was running in her direction.

The grin slid off her face as soon as she spotted me.

"Rose, can I talk to you?" I asked, the second I reached her.

Her eyes glazed over. "No."

"Please? Look, I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important."

"Go away Malfoy, I'm already talking to someone." She waved her hand airily at the man standing in front of her, and I suddenly noticed that, not only was he about twenty years old, but I recognised him. Teddy Lupin, Rose's cousin – or, well, married to her cousin.

That made me feel slightly better.

"Rosie..."

"Don't call me that!" she snapped. I hadn't been expecting her to say anything like that, so it stung so much more when she did.

"I'm sorry, Rose, I don't know how many times I'm going to have to apologise..."

"You can keep apologising forever, Malfoy, but I won't ever accept." There was the stubborn note of a promise in her words.

"Can you just talk to me for a second? Please?" I begged, keeping my fingers crossed.

She exhaled loudly, as if it were the world's most tedious chore. "Fine. You have two minutes."

I led her away from Lupin, down the quiet side alley beside the Three Broomsticks. We faced each other, and her expression was less than friendly.

"I'm sorry. I never meant... it was only to... it was pathetic. I was trying to get you back for what you said... I didn't want... it didn't mean anything to me."

"It meant something to her, Malfoy. Don't you stop to think about whose feelings you hurt? And you know what? It meant something to me, too."

I closed my eyes mournfully. "I am so sorry. Believe me."

"I do believe you, Malfoy. But it doesn't help."

Those words were not the ones I wanted to hear. "I really care about you Rose. I... I think I..."

"Don't." That one command froze me in my tracks. It was the second time she had headed me off before I could manage to choke out the words 'I love you'. Did she really not want to hear it?

"Are you ever going to forgive me?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"No." Her response was categorical, but her eyes were telling me differently.

And then I made another idiotic mistake. I leant in and kissed her.

I don't know what I was trying to do. Maybe make her see that she cared about me more than any stupid fight, that she needed to forgive me? Maybe show her how sorry I was? It took me a few second to realise that she was as unresponsive as stone. She wasn't kissing me back.

So I stopped, and it broke my heart. When I drew back, she looked at me full in the face for a few seconds. There was no noise, no air.

Her hand whipped back, and smacked into my left cheek so hard that my jaw collided painfully with my right shoulder. My hand flew to my face, shocked. She had hit me. I had never seen Rose hit anyone in all the time I'd known her, not even her cousins. There weren't any stories about it happening either. The others yes, but not Rose.

Rose never hit.

There were tears in her eyes as she glared up and me. Then slowly, very slowly, she drew her wand on me again, for the second time in our whole four years of friendship.

"If you ever, ever do that again, Malfoy," she began, with a voice like the inside of a mausoleum. "I will smack you so hard that your eyeballs switch sockets. And then, when I'm done with that, I'll curse you into the next century. Got it?"

I nodded meekly. The message was coming through loud and clear.

"I'm sorry."

"You're a broken record. And you know what? I'm tired of listening to you. If you gave a damn about me, you really would leave me alone. That is what I want from you."

I nodded again, feeling tears burn in my eyes.

"Goodbye, Malfoy."

And with that, Rose turned on her heel and marched out of the alleyway, leaving me alone with my misery.


	18. You Have Been Warned

**Rose**

_Fifth Year, First Term_

I stuck out my arm as James, Louis and Fred tried to push past me in the corridor, Fred carrying a snarling circular object that was an eye watering shade of green.

"Fred, you know fanged Frisbees are banned. Hand it over," I requested politely, holding out my hand for him to give me the Frisbee. He pouted like a five-year-old that wasn't getting his own way.

"You're no fun since you became a prefect, Rose." Despite the fact that he was two years my senior, Fred acted like he was a toddler at times. He handed over the lime green disc reluctantly.

"Yes, but I have to set an example," I pointed out.

"You're worse than Aunt Hermione," he grumbled. Louis and James grinned.

"Whatever," I replied, rolling my eyes.

Fred pulled a stupid face at me, and he and my other idiot cousins swooped past me on their way out to the grounds. I sighed and shook my head wearily, reminding myself, as Fred accurately said, of my mother.

"Rose, can I talk to you?"

I glanced up to see none other than Sophie Avery standing beside me, her long dark hair swept off her face and her expression sombre. I nodded reluctantly. I could walk away from Malfoy, and I did, frequently, but Sophie was a different matter. She had never intentionally hurt me and, well, there was no getting away from the fact that she was actually quite a nice person.

"Yes, sure."

I followed her as she led me to the very same empty classroom where Malfoy and I had come across Peeves. She shut the door as soon as I was inside, blocking out the noise from the people in the entrance hall.

"Can I speak frankly?" Sophie asked me, and I nodded. I was tired of trying to cut through the momentous piles of crap. She bit her lip, hesitating, and then said something I didn't expect. "You are such an idiot."

"Excuse me!" I growled, glaring at her. Maybe I was a bit too hasty... maybe she wasn't so nice.

"Well, you are," she said unashamedly. "Scorpius is..."

"Why did I have a feeling this would end up being a conversation about Malfoy?" I snapped.

"Because I don't like you, and have little reason to speak to you otherwise," Sophie retorted. I was taken aback. Nobody had ever directly told me that they didn't like me.

"Why don't you like me?" I demanded, feeling stung.

"Because of what you're doing to my best friend," she shot at me. I regarded her with a cold sort of detachment.

"What _I'm_ doing?"

"Scorpius. Is. A. Wreck," she enunciated clearly, making sure each word had maximum impact. "He hasn't been right in months! And it's your fault, Rose, if you'd have only let him apologise..."  
"Aren't you meant to be there to pick up the pieces?" I replied scathingly. "You aren't doing your job very well, are you?"

Sophie narrowed her eyes. "I was thirteen, and beyond naive when I said that. And besides, I don't feel that way about Scor... I haven't for months." That piece of information surprised me.

"But then..."

"I'm going out with Adrian Finch-Fletchley, anyway."

Again, I was surprised. "But isn't he a Hufflepuff?"

She glared at me coldly. "Yes. And he's great. He's funny, and sweet, and it's completely irrelevant what house he belongs to."

I felt my respect for Sophie Avery increasing. "He's a half-blood, too."

"So are you, but that doesn't seem to bother Scorpius. Slytherins can shed the stigma too."

I knew Sophie was right, but somehow her words bothered me. Before I could put my finger on it properly, she was speaking again.

"He loves you, Rose. You know that, right?"

I jerked like I'd been slapped. "He doesn't love me."

"Are you blind, or just plain stupid?"

Wow, Sophie really was cutting through the crap with a stiletto dagger. I met her gaze defiantly.

"Neither, just realistic."

"Rose, I don't know what planet you live on, I really don't. I'm not going to waste any more of my time championing Scor, because I could go on for hours and I can see that it wouldn't make a blind bit of difference to you one way or another. So here's your choice; accept his apology, which I strongly advise, or lose him forever. I won't stand idly by and watch as you jump up and down on his heart over and over again, Rose. It's vindictive, and he's not strong enough to cope with it."

"What about me, huh?" I challenged. "You go on and on about how Malfoy is feeling, but what about me? He completely tore me apart."

"And he apologised over and over and over again. But you didn't want to hear it. And for the record, I haven't heard you apologise to him _once_."

"I have nothing to apologise for!" I snapped.

"Yes, Rose, you do! I'd say breaking someone's heart merits an apology, wouldn't you?" Sophie snarled. I blinked at her, half-angry, half-upset by our confrontation.

"That only works if the person had a heart to begin with."

"No, you know who doesn't have a heart, Weasley? You! You just have a great big sucking black hole of nothingness where your heart should be. Maybe Scor is better off without you."

"Maybe he is," I responded in a monotone.

"Stay away from him," Sophie warned me, low and threatening. "If you hurt him again, I'll get Ferdie to hold your arms while I punch you. Consider yourself warned."

She took two angry strides towards the door and threw it wide open, allowing the noise of the rest of the school to spill inside again.

"Heartless bitch!" She tossed one last piece of vitriol over her shoulder at me, before flouncing out and slamming the door shut so hard that it trembled.

A tear dripped from my eyelashes and rolled down one cheek.

The door was only closed for a moment, before someone swung it open from the other side.

"Did you have another fight with Soph, Ferd, because I saw her storming off..."

I froze when I heard that voice. Then my hand moved in a blindingly quick action, brushing the moisture from my eyes, as the door swung open enough to reveal Scorpius Malfoy.

He had grown again over summer, and he was even better looking than the last time that I saw him. He seemed a little unhealthy though, his skin had a greyish pallor to it. I swallowed around a lump in my throat.

"Oh." One sad, soft syllable when he realised that I wasn't who he thought I was.

Awkwardness swelled between us.

"Um..." I struggled for something to say, but he beat me to it.

"Why were you talking to Sophie?" His head was tilted to one side in an imitation of casual curiosity, but I saw the haunted, hunted look in his eyes.

"She wanted to communicate a point to me. It's not a big deal."

"I beg to differ." His voice was as cold and calculated as mine.

"Look, just... leave it, okay?"

His eyes swept past me, to the blank blackboard mounted on the wall behind me.

"Why do you reckon they even have this room? No-one teaches here."

I had never thought about it really, so it surprised me that I seemed to know the answer. "Uncle Harry says that Hogwarts is full of things that ought not to be there, but are around to assist the students in some way. I guess it's for somewhere private to talk."

"Yeah... listen, Rose..."

"Scorpius, I'm sorry."

"I... what? You're what?" He looked like I'd just told him my head was made from snargaluff pods.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for how I acted."

A grin lit his face up suddenly. "You really mean that."

"Yes, I was a... bitch. Sorry."

"No, Rose it's..."

"But I don't want to be friends anymore."

His face fell. "What?"

"It's too hard, Scorpius. It's just too complicated. I can't do it anymore. Sorry, but I can't."

And I really, truly couldn't. As much as it broke my heart, I couldn't do it. I didn't think I could handle being his friend. Not when I felt this way about him.

"I wish you'd said earlier. I could've saved myself all the drama," Scorpius's voice was like ice.

"I'm sorry."

"No. You aren't."

And with that, Scorpius turned and left me alone in the room for a second time, but this time, instead of one tear, it was a river.


	19. Poker Face

**Albus**

_Fifth Year, Third Term_

I cornered Malfoy in the changing rooms after our Quidditch match. I was a little sore, because he had well and truly beaten me, but I wasn't going to even mention it to him.

He was reaching up into his locker for his shirt when I stepped out of the shadows.

"Malfoy."

He jumped about a mile, his elbow colliding painfully – or, it looked painful – into the metal of his locker. "Merlin, Potter, you should think about wearing a bell round your neck."

I didn't crack a smile.

"To what do I owe the severe displeasure?" he asked, when I made no move to speak.

"I want to know what you did to Rose."

Malfoy groaned, rolled his eyes and smacked his head off the locker in exasperation. "Are you still wanting to speak about bloody Weasley? I don't care, Potter. For the last time, I don't care."

"She's upset."

"She's a fifteen year old girl. They're always upset about something. Maybe it's the lunar cycle."

I frowned at him, wondering if that was an insult. "Are you saying she's a werewolf?"

Malfoy looked at me like I was completely stupid, and I felt a bit embarrassed. "I was referring to the fact that if your precious cousin is upset it's probably 'that time of the month' as Soph likes to call it."

Yup, I was excruciatingly dense. "I don't think so Malfoy."

"Why, do you count her tampons or something?"

"Don't be disgusting."

He rolled his eyes again. "Well, Weasley always has been a moody sod anyway. I wouldn't lose any sleep over it."

I tried really hard to resist the urge to beat his head against the lockers repeatedly. Instead of resorting to violence, I gritted my teeth and stared down at my muddy shoes as Malfoy slid his shirt on.

"Look, I know you did something," I bluffed.

"You don't know anything."

"I know you two are still friends behind my back!" I blurted angrily, expecting him to recoil, or to backpedal. He did neither. He fixed me with a blank stare.

"Wow, Potter, you _really_ don't know anything."

That surprised me. Scorpius Malfoy wasn't one to lie when confronted by someone else, so I had to assume that he was telling me the truth. The question was – why not?

"How's that?" I demanded.

"Weasley and I haven't been friends since the Yule Ball in fourth year... no, wait, since about a week beforehand. So you really are clueless." His face was smooth, but transparently honest. I had no choice but to believe him.

"Then... but..."

Malfoy's grey eyes lit up. "Ah, not so sure it's my fault now, are you Potter?" He smirked at me and turned in an unruffled manner to extract his jumper from his locker.

"She's dating Kian Finnigan, y'know."

I don't know what made me say it, but Malfoy's reaction was incredibly satisfying. I saw his hands clench into fists and heard his jaw snap, all before he could manage to rein in his emotions.

"That's nice," he replied in a hard voice that didn't quite portray the nonchalance he was aiming for.

"Look... I can't actually believe I'm going to say this, but... she likes you more."

Malfoy actually snorted with laughter. "Potter, you are so dense. Weasley hates me. Loathes. Detests. Wishes for my immediate and painful death. And the feeling is mutual."

"I'm not dense, you're just in denial," I shot back.

Malfoy rounded on me. "The last time I tried to say the same thing to your goody-two-shoes cousin, she threatened to hex me into oblivion, so forgive me for not jumping on your bandwagon again, Potter."

I had no idea how to respond to those words, so I kept completely quiet and chewed it over in my head.

"If Weasley is upset, it's really not my problem, okay? Tell her to talk to Finnigan. Whatever. I don't ca-" Malfoy trailed off as Sophie Avery poked her head around the door and glanced around looking for her friend. When she found him, her brow wrinkled in confusion.

"Scorpius, you've been ages. Ferd sent me to get you... he and Rowan thought you'd drowned in the shower." She turned her attention onto me and gave me an almost alarmingly pretty smile. "Hi, Albus."

I smiled sheepishly in return. "Hello, Sophie."

Her gaze flickered back to her friend, who was now fiddling with the strap of his Quidditch bag.

"C'mon Scor, everyone wants to party! Lily's snuck down to the kitchens and got..." she trailed off with and uneasy glance at me, wondering whether I'd rat them out.

"I don't tell on my sister," I promised, and she relaxed.

"...got a crate of butterbeer, and we all want our seeker there to share in the victory party. Sorry, Albus, no offence or anything."

I shrugged, though I could taste slight bitterness on my tongue. "I'll win the next one."

"If it's any consolation, I thought you flew amazingly," Sophie complimented me with a smile, and I felt my cheeks turn pink. My eyes slid to the side where I caught Malfoy inclining his own eyes to the heavens.

"Thanks, Sophie," I said pointedly, shooting Malfoy a glare.

"No problem." She beamed. "You coming, Scor?"

Malfoy dithered for a second. "You go on, I'll catch you up."

Sophie's eyes, a shade lighter than my own green, hardened slightly, and they flicked from me to Malfoy and back again so quickly that it made me feel like I was being hypnotized.

"Okay..." she said reluctantly, turning back the way she'd come. "See you around, Albus," she added.

"Bye Sophie," I replied, grinning like an idiot.

When she was gone, Malfoy moved to stand in front of me, a stupid smirk plastered across his face. "So... you fancy my best friend."

My eyes narrowed at the accusation. "No, I really don't."

"Yeah, you do. Don't worry, you aren't the first guy to fancy Sophie. I mean, it's easy to see the attraction really..."

"You fancy my best friend, too," I retorted, feeling about five years old.

Malfoy's eyebrows shot up so high that they disappeared under his hairline. "And who would that be... Finnigan? Potter, I regret to inform you that he does nothing for me."

"No... but Rose does."

His eyes froze over again. "You are like a dragon with an egg, aren't you? You just won't let it go."

"Because it's true."

"Maybe it _was_ true... once upon a time. Not anymore. I really don't care about Weasley." He was a very good actor, I had to give him that. But I knew the truth.

"Because she's a half-blood?" The question slipped out of my mouth before I could stop it, and Malfoy's jaw tightened.

"Because she's an insufferable know-it-all. And an insensitive bitch. And..." he sucked in a breath, as though he were forcing himself to say something unpleasant. "A half-blood."

"The Scorpius Malfoy I knew didn't care about blood," I reminded him.

"People change, Potter," he reminded me right back. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a celebratory party to get to."

And with one curt nod in my direction, Malfoy swept past me and out the door of the changing rooms, letting it slam shut in the wind.


	20. A Pack Of Wild Animals

**Scorpius**

_Fifth Year, Last Term_

"No. More. OWLs." Ferdinand enunciated, stretching out across the grass and flashing me an upside down grin. "Isn't this just the best feeling ever?"

"Mmm," I agreed. "Until we have to sit our NEWTs."

He glared up at me. "You had to spoil it Scor. You couldn't just let me bask in the glory of no more exams for even a few days."

I sucked on the end of the quill I was using. "You know me, Ferd. I'm a realist."

"You're a git," he replied, and we both laughed.

I glanced up to see Rowan and Sophie sprawled out across the grass by the lake, feeding the Giant Squid with slices of toast. Dash Nott sat with his older brother Darren, his girlfriend Celestica and her best friend Sarah on the other side of the tree to me and Ferd. The exam free Slytherins had claimed this side of the lake.

But that meant that the opposite side was claimed by the Gryffindors. Well, I say Gryffindors, but a more accurate description would be _Weasleys_.

Albus and James Potter. Fred and Louis. Finnigan, Thomas and Jordan were there too, I supposed, so it wasn't just Weasleys.

Rose was there.

She was sitting with her back propped against a gnarled tree, reading Rita Skeeter's latest pile of crap –_Neville Longbottom – The Unchosen One._ The expression of distaste on her face was evident even from where I was sitting, and I bit back a smile. I could imagine the kind of drivel Skeeter would write, and of course Rose would turn her nose up at it.

"Have you seen this?!" I glanced up as something pretty and redheaded hurtled towards me, skidding to a stop just before her toes grazed the soles of my shoes. I looked up into Lily Potter's excited face with a bemused patience I reserved especially for her.

"What is it?" I asked.

"This!" She thrust her newspaper under my nose and shook it repeatedly. I blinked and drew back a couple of centimetres so that I could read the title. _Dominique Dominates World Cup Semis. _"My cousin got us through to the final! The actual Quidditch World Cup Final! _My_ cousin!"

I laughed at the expression of pride on Lily's face. "Are you proud?"  
"Am I _proud_? I'm beside myself with excitement! She could win the World Cup, Scor!"

I laughed again. Her good moods were infectious. "And I suppose you want to follow in her footsteps?"

Lily looked at me like I'd just told her flobberworms were dangerous. "Duh!" She cupped her hands to her mouth and bellowed across the lake. "ROSIEEEE! AL! JAMES! FRED! LOUIS! YOU HAVE TO COME AND SEE THIS!"

I watched with a heavy heart as the Weasley clan, plus Thomas, Finnigan and Jordan picked up their stuff and began to run along the bank towards their frantically gesticulating cousin and... well, me.

"How cool is this!" Lily squealed once they had all converged around her. "Dom's gonna win the World Cup!"

I knew Rose would only be pretending to be excited when she joined in with her cousins' shrieks. I knew she didn't care at all about Quidditch, except to say that it was the most dangerous sport ever invented. She'd probably end up saying something generic like 'that's awesome'.

"That's awesome!" she cried, not a second after I thought it. I smiled to myself. Scorpius Malfoy, the great seer.

"Isn't it just?" Ferdinand replied, a mocking smile making the corners of his mouth twitch.

Rose rounded on him slowly. "Goyle, are you making fun of me?"

Sophie's head snapped up. I swear that girl could smell an argument coming a mile away. Her eyes flashed dangerously... but surprisingly not at either Rose or Ferd. She locked eyes with Albus Potter, and some channel of communication seemed to open between them.

"Rose, don't pick a fight," Albus said, to my complete disbelief.

"Ferdinand, don't mock people," Sophie scolded.

Both Rose and Ferd rolled their eyes, and James Potter sighed in exasperation.

"Pick a fight, Rosie. C'mon, they're only Slytherins!"

I was on my feet when he said that, and I saw Rose's eyes travel upwards as she took in my expression. I was itching to knock that stupid grin of James Potter's face. From the way he positioned himself, he looked like he was looking for a fight with me, too.

"Only Slytherins, Potter?" I challenged, my tone quiet and deadly.

"Want to prove me wrong?"

"Guys, don't!" Sophie and Albus chorused.

"No, come on, Malfoy... let's see how pretty you are when I'm done with you."

I started forwards, but Sophie grabbed my arm in a surprisingly vice-like hold. "Don't you dare!" she threatened.

"Get off, Soph," I advised. Ferdinand got to his feet beside me in a menacing way.

"Yeah, let him go, Soph."

"Think you can take us, Goyle?" Louis and Fred whispered in unison, egging him on.

"With my eyes shut," Ferdinand growled, and he probably could have. He's a pretty big guy.

"Knock it off!" Albus insisted, glaring at each of his cousins in turn. Rowan walked forwards to stand at my left shoulder.

"Scared, Potter?" I goaded him, knowing what pushed his buttons. He regarded me with undisguised hatred for a minute, stealing a glance at Sophie, and then at Rose.

"You wish, Malfoy!" he snarled, losing his cool. James grinned appreciatively at his brother's turnaround.

"I don't wish, actually. I owe the Weasleys a few good hits," I replied coolly, glaring with eyes like ice.

"Shame Hugo's not here to break your nose again, isn't it?" Fred said conversationally, and I tensed up again, fully intent on ripping his head clean from his shoulders.

"Oooo, Malfoy's getting stressy!" James goaded, and that was it.

My fist flew, and it collided with James's mouth with a sickening crunch. I barely had the chance to draw it back, before Albus hurtled into the side of me, knocking me down into the grass.

It was like something out of a cartoon, as everyone dived into the fight, arms and legs whirring like windmills. I heard yells and gasps and somebody shouting for everyone to stop – I think it was Lily – before...

"WHAT IN MERLIN'S NAME IS GOING ON?"

We all froze, wiping blood from our noses or mouths, shoving each other roughly away, as McGonagall came charging towards us across the grounds, her face like thunder.

"Malfoy started it, Professor!" James excused.

"He provoked me!" I shouted back, livid.

"He's an arrogant git, Professor!" Albus replied. I lunged at him again, only this time, McGonagall held me back.

"ENOUGH!" She glared at each one of us in turn, and we all began to calm down gradually, our chests heaving. "Never have I seen such an outrageous display of violence from students in the upper years! You ought to be ashamed of yourselves, gentleman! Behaving like wild animals, the lot of you! I should think you would know better than that!"

She clutched her heart dramatically. "Miss Weasley, who was the person who initiated this... this... brawl?"

I glanced at Rose, as did everyone else. _It was James. Tell them it was James._

"Malfoy threw the first punch, Professor," she said slowly.

"Was he provoked?" she asked sharply. _Yes. Come on, Rose. Say yes, you know I was!_

"No," she replied firmly. "It was completely out of the blue."

"That's not true!" All the Slytherins protested as one voice. McGonagall raised a hand for silence.

"I am going to listen to Miss Weasley, I'm afraid, because out of everyone here, she is the least likely to lie to me."

"That's what you think," I scoffed. Rose's face fell.

McGonagall turned to me with a truly terrifying expression. "As for you, Mister Malfoy. Detention. From now until the end of the year. And the rest of you... three weeks. And I'm taking fifty points from Slytherin and Gryffindor."

With that, McGonagall turned on her heel and swept away, leaving us all glaring furiously at each other.

"You're such a liar, Weasley!" I spat, and stormed away in the opposite direction.


	21. Confronting The Charmless

**Rose**

_Fifth Year, Last Term_

I was just waiting for the explosion from Scorpius, and I didn't have to wait long. It wasn't even a full hour before he charged up to me demanding an explanation.

"What the hell, Weasley?" he demanded, trapping me before I could enter the library and wrapping one hand around my wrist extremely tightly. I winced and squirmed against his grip, trying to free myself like a child trying to escape from their angry mother.

"Let go of me, Malfoy!" I growled, sounding for all the world like a stroppy toddler. It confused me when his skin touched mine. It made me think things… things I ought not to be thinking about.

"Why did you do it?" His question was legitimate enough, I reasoned. Why did I do it? I wasn't even sure I had the answer to that. I had told a barefaced lie to Professor McGonagall, of all people. And I had gotten Scorpius into trouble.

It felt good. I knew that was an awful thing to think, an awful thing to say, but it was the truth. Lying and getting my own back on Scorpius for not loving me, for not wanting me, for not renouncing all his Slytherin friends, and his grandfather, and his opinions, and choosing me over everything else… yes, it was petty and vindictive, but it made me feel better.

Now I understand the phrase – there is no wrath like a woman scorned. Maybe Scorpius understood it a bit better too.

"Because you started the fight," I answered, instead of telling him that it was really a vengeance kick.

"But your stupid cousin pushed me into it, Rose! God, I thought you were all noble and righteous! What happened to you?" His glare was so ferocious that I nearly recoiled. I caught myself in time though.

"I changed. You did too. It happens, Malfoy. Now, get off me and get out of my way."

If anything, he tightened his grip more. I turned to walk away from him but he tugged me back and slammed me roughly against the wall. I ignored the throbbing pain that exploded in my shoulder, too angry with Scorpius to feel sorry for myself.

"You're a bitch," he snarled at me, and I almost welcomed the insult. It continued to fuel my burning fury.

"You're an arrogant, evil, disgusting, cockroach!" I spat at him in return, enjoying the effect of the anger that hardened his eyes to the consistency of steel.

"You are beyond irritating, you know that? So self-righteous, so perfect, little miss I can do no wrong, but really you're nothing but a back-stabbing, deceitful, traitorous, lying, manipulative f-"

I didn't let him get any further. I didn't even know what came over me. One second I was glaring at him, hating his guts, wishing he would drop dead on the floor in front of me just so I could have the pleasure of digging him a grave and dancing on it, and the next second, I had grabbed him roughly by the collar and yanked his face down until his lips crashed into mine.

I fastened my arms around his neck and locked him in a stranglehold as my lips savagely attacked his, and at first I thought he was too surprised to do anything, to react in any way, before I noticed he was kissing me back, his tongue fighting back against mine, one hand braced against the wall behind us, vaguely reminiscent of third year.

That kiss had been my attempt to communicate something vital to him. This kiss was just angry and hateful and nonsensical, but at the same time full of some hormonal teenage lust that I had no idea was buried within me. I had known, as I was progressing through school, that I loved Scorpius, I had thought him good-looking, but never had I realized just how much I truly lusted after him. How much I wanted him, physically. I guess it took the absence of the love for me to recognize the lust.

It was driving me insane. He wrenched his mouth away from mine suddenly, but only to transfer it to my neck, trailing angry kisses that would probably bruise me along the delicate skin there. I didn't care – it was worth the pain. As much as I hated him, as much as I found him infuriating, I knew that there was something about Scorpius Malfoy that I craved, and I had finally put my finger on it. Physical lust.

There was absolutely nothing romantic about our kiss when his lips pressed against mine again. There was nothing tender or sweet or meaningful. It was just filled with an electric charge, an animalistic hunger that I wanted to satiate.

When we eventually broke apart again, my breathing was so disjointed that I couldn't even fill my lungs properly. We glared into each other's eyes with just as much cold fury as we had before we'd attacked each other, the kiss having had no effect on our deeper emotions.

He dropped his hands from me so fast it was as though he had been scalded.

"I thought you didn't want me to ever do that again," he challenged.

"I didn't want you to care ever again," I responded, well aware that I'd trapped myself with my own words in a fit of anger. All I had wanted for months afterwards was for him to kiss me until my lips were raw and bruised. Which now, they probably would be.

"I don't care about you, Weasley," he answered venomously. "But it's hard not to get caught up when you attack me like that."

"I didn't see you complaining," I retorted. Scorpius scoffed at me as though I was mentally incompetent. That really got my back up.

"Of course I wasn't complaining, Weasley, I'm a sixteen year old boy. What self-respecting sixteen year old boy complains about something like that?"

"You're an arse, Malfoy."

"You can't get enough of me, Weasley, and you know it. Whether I'm an arse or not."

And on that note, he whipped around and strode away from me at a brisk pace, his robes billowing out around him. I wondered just when he had gotten so cocky. And then I wondered why, even though it made me dislike him even more, he was right. Why couldn't I get enough of him?

Why was my head so damn complicated?


	22. Eh?

**Scorpius**

_Sixth Year, First Term_

Sophie was so engrossed in her magazine that she didn't notice me staring at her until I had been doing it for a full ten minutes. Her eyes flickered upwards suddenly, and locked with mine. I was impressed; the only sign she gave at all that she had seen me was a slight widening of her eyes, and then she returned to The Quibbler. I pouted childishly – I wasn't a great fan of being ignored.

"Why do you read that rubbish, Soph?" I asked.

She shrugged noncommittally, and calmly turned the page again. "My friend Lysander's grandfather publishes it."

"But Xeno Lovegood is... well... bonkers, quite frankly."

"It's entertaining, and sometimes they do some really good interviews," she replied, still not meeting my gaze.

"Like who?" I challenged.

"Harry Potter does one every so often," Sophie answered. I rolled my eyes swiftly, not even waiting for the words to fully come out of her mouth.

"Yes, because that is the mark of a good magazine." Sarcasm was dripping off every syllable of my sentence, but to my surprise, Sophie merely snorted.

"Jealous much?" she sang at me, and I scowled.

"I am not jealous of Saint Harry Potter, or of his precious son."

"Which one?"

"Albus!"

"Why would you be jealous of Albus?" she wondered, completely bewildered by my comment. I bit my lip. I couldn't very well admit to her that I was – very deep down – jealous of him because Sophie fancied him. And despite the fact that I had no romantic interest in Sophie whatsoever, it was always me that Sophie obsessed over. Not anymore, though. Now, she went all giggly and girly around Albus sodding Potter. It just made me want to vomit.

"Hey Scor."

A small, very pretty redhead squeezed into the gap on the bench beside me and helped herself to a breakfast muffin that was still lingering on my plate. I turned to glare at her sharply.

"Stop stealing my food, Potter."

"Are we last-naming each other now, Malfoy?" she replied with a Cheshire cat grin. I couldn't help but smile at her in return.

"Morning, Lily."

"Hey, Sophie, how're you?"

Sophie gave me an evil grin. "Wondering why my best friend is so jealous of your brother."

Lily laughed loudly. "Oh, well, that's an easy one. Scorpius is seething with jealousy because you have a bit of a crush on Albus, and therefore aren't paying Scor's battered ego enough attention anymore."

My jaw dropped open, as did Sophie's.

"And," she continued, evidently enjoying this game now that she knew she was bang on the money, "Scorpius is always going to be resentful of Al because Rose chose him."

That one really put me off my food.

"Wow, Lily," Sophie breathed, looking like she was trying her hardest to stifle laughter. "That's... accurate. Or it sounds it anyway... you should be some sort of shrink."

"Because wizards need excellent psychologists," Lily agreed, taking a large bite out of what was once my breakfast.

I grumbled an incoherent protest and began to sulk, unnoticed by the other two. Just when I thought my morning couldn't get any worse.

I should never be that stupid, of course.

"Malfoy? Can I talk to you?"

I turned around to find myself face-to-face with yet another pretty redhead, although this one couldn't have been less welcome.

"No, Weasley," I responded flatly, childishly turning my cheek away from her.

"Please? I wouldn't ask if it wasn't really important," she begged. Weasley was actually begging me. I felt sort of... powerful. And then the memory of our last "conversation" hit me and the feeling of sudden triumph vanished without a trace.

"I don't want to speak to you anymore."

"Malfoy, just listen to me for five bloody minutes!" she snapped. That was more like the Rose Weasley I knew so well. I sighed and stood up, extracting myself from the bench.

"Fine!" I growled, stalking off in the direction of the entrance hall, away from the curious eyes of the rest of the school.

When the door had swung shut, I made a beeline for our usual classroom, not bothering to look behind me and check that Rose was following. Quite frankly, at that point, I didn't really care. She could follow or not... it didn't make any difference to my life anymore. When I heard the door being softly closed behind me, however, I knew she was there.

"What is it that you want from me now, Weasley?" I asked, truly bewildered.

"I want to apologise."

I whirled around, positive that I had heard her wrong. "You what?"

"I want to apologise for the way I've behaved. For the way I told on you to McGonagall. For... for everything."

My eyebrows shot up so fast that it gave me whiplash. "Well, I didn't see that one coming, that's for sure."

"Look, Scorpius," I registered the renewal of my first name, "We were best friends once, and we let it go. I'm not asking you to be my friend, I just want us to put everything that's happened behind us."

"So... you want, like... a truce?" The words sounded profoundly wrong after our feud had stretched on for this length of time. Rose held my gaze steadily though, and nodded.

"I want a truce. I want us to be... better than enemies."

Was I really hearing her correctly? "Fine, deal. We have a truce."

She looked totally taken aback by my quick concession. "Really?"

"No, I'm ly-" I bit back the sarcastic retort just in time, swallowing down my acrid words and replacing them with something that vaguely resembled civility. "Yes. I'm tired of fighting with you."

She smiled, just one very small smile, and all of a sudden my heart – which had laid dormant for months, barely beating enough to keep me fully alive – kicked into overdrive. I felt that all too familiar helpless surge of hope and... no.

Not again. Would I never be free of it? I had thought I had gotten rid of all those feelings. The last time I had kissed her, there wasn't any of that... there was just anger, and nothing more.

I thought that I was free. Why wasn't I free?

Even after six years, I was still as wretchedly in love with Rose as I had been at the start. All the pain, all the jealousy, all the outrage and the heartache. It was all _still there_. What in Merlin's name was wrong with me?

"You know, Albus likes Sophie," Rose told me conversationally, oblivious to the turmoil that was raging inside me.

"I know. She fancies him, too."

"He could do worse."

"So could she, I guess."

Our clipped sentences were awkward, but reasonable. We were making progress. Slow and steady, hopefully. Wasn't that the muggle story? Something about a rabbit... no a hare... and a tortoise. Running a race or something like that.

"Shall we go back into the Great Hall?" I suggested, desperate to keep my head above water, to save myself from fully diving back into my obsessive ways about Rose.

"I heard you were going out with Sarah Pucey," she murmured suddenly, not answering my question. I glanced at her expression, but it was completely unreadable.

"Yeah, I am."

"Have you two – I – sorry, that's none of my business..." she trailed off, her cheeks a boiling scarlet colour.

I smiled sadly, guessing what she had been about to ask. "Yeah. We have."

"And before her... have you ever...?" She seemed to forget that by her own admission these questions were none of her business. So did I, apparently, because I continued to answer them.

"Yeah. I have."

"When...?"

"Beginning of fifth year was the first time, but... wait, why do you want to know this again?" This was a dangerous topic for me to be discussing with her. Very, very dangerous.

"I don't," she mumbled, her eyes fixed on the tips of her shoes.

"Why did you ask, then?" I wondered.

Her eyes flashed up to meet mine, and her mouth twisted to the side into an expression somewhere between a grimace and a smile. "Morbid curiosity. I'm sorry."

"Rose? Have...?"

"No." She cut me off before I could even ask the question. I nodded slowly, feeling completely relieved, but wishing I didn't feel anything at all.

"Have you ever thought about it?" The question slipped out before I could catch it.

"Well... there was this one guy, and I used to think that maybe... but it didn't work out. We can't even look each other in the eye properly anymore."

I nodded seriously, understanding her predicament.

"Awkward breakup?"

There was that weird little pained smile again. "You could say that."

"I'm really sorry, Rose. For what it's worth, which probably isn't very much."

"It was mostly my fault anyway. I was never really that clear about what I wanted. And then, when I had figured out what I wanted, it was far too late. That ship had sailed."

"Maybe you could get him back? You know, if you feel that way?" I suggested, trying to be supportive and friendly while she poured her soul out to me, treating me like a friend again. I hoped to God that she didn't let his name slip, because then I'd have to chase after him and beat him around the head with a crowbar until he realised how stupid he was being for letting Rose slip away.

It took me a second to notice that she was looking at me with an odd expression on her face, her blue eyes a little bit shiny.

"Believe me, I'm trying."

I felt completely dismayed upon hearing that, but I powered through it with a soldier's mentality. "Let me know if you have any success."

The twisty smile reappeared. "Scorpius, you'll be the first to know."

Why? So she could rub it in my face? Oh well, I did ask for it. "Okay."

Her twisty smile intensified. "Are you happy with Sarah?"

I shrugged. I had never really thought about it much. "She's great, most of the time. Happy constantly, which can get a little irritating, but other than that..."

"I'm happy for you." For someone so happy for me, it was amazing how close Rose looked to chucking herself off the top of the astronomy tower. I scrutinised her face for a minute or two, trying to pinpoint the source of her depression.

"That guy is really thick, you know."

"Huh?" she looked nonplussed.

"For letting you get into this state. If he had any sense whatsoever, he would just run back to you at the speed of light and spellotape your arms together." I was trying to cheer her up, but I hadn't thought it would have any effect. Which is why I was so shocked when she laughed.

"You think he's thick?" she asked, as though the idea really amused her.

"Yeah. Thicker than a concussed troll." Her grin widened.

"Wow, if only he knew you'd said that." She paused. "You might change your mind if you knew who he was."

I took a deep breath, trying to stop myself from asking the question I knew was on the tip of my tongue. I couldn't hold it off for long – it was exactly like Rose said, morbid curiosity was a very powerful force. I needed to try and control myself.

That wasn't something I was particularly good at when it came to a certain Weasley, however.

"Who is he?" I asked, knowing I'd regret finding out. To my astonishment, Rose shook her head infinitesimally.

"No, I'm not telling you. Work it out for yourself."

I frowned. I hadn't wanted to know, but not telling me when I'd gone to the trouble of asking was plain mean.

"I'm going to go and talk to Kian," she announced suddenly.

"It's not Finnigan, is it?" I choked, my eyes popping open wide.

She raised one eyebrow at me, a skill she had never exhibited before. That had always been my thing. "No, it's not Finnigan. I prefer silver to gold, much as I'm told that gold is more worthwhile."

"Eh?" I blinked, mystified.

She smiled. "Oh, figure it out, Scorpius. You're a smart boy."

And with that parting note, she left me standing in an empty classroom, staring confusedly at the wall.

And more confused than I'd ever been in my entire life.


	23. Banners

**Rose**

_Sixth Year, Second Term_

"So... what colours did we want to paint these banners?" I turned to my partner and asked cheerfully.

"Um... these ones are blue, I think," Scorpius hesitated. He looked so funny, his face streaked with emerald paint and the sleeves of his robes rolled up past his elbows, his blond hair flyaway and unkempt. We had been working at painting banners for the Quidditch cup for the past three hours now, and we'd actually had fun. We'd laughed, we'd joked... it was almost as though we were friends again.

"You've got a bit of paint on your face," I pointed out, and Scorpius groaned.

"That's not going to come off for ages. Great. Why is McGonagall making us paint this by hand again?"

"Because she hates us all?" I suggested. Scorpius chuckled.

"Yeah, that sounds about right."

We continued to work in companionable silence for a while, and I was lost in my own thoughts.

"I broke up with Sarah last night," Scorpius dropped in lightly, and I nearly choked on my own saliva.

"What?" I nearly dropped my paintbrush in surprise. When I'd seen them in potions yesterday, they had been so... lovey dovey. It was nauseating, and really uncomfortable for me to watch.

"Why did you break up?" I asked, trying my best to sound casual and breezy.

"We just... weren't working anymore. We're totally over. It's a little bit sad, but I'm ok." He paused for a minute. "She was just so damn happy all the time. It's bloody annoying!"

I giggled, looking at the disgruntled expression on his face as he talked about his perpetually cheerful ex-girlfriend.

"You'd prefer a misery guts?"

"Actually, yeah. The constant euphoria is nauseating."

"So... you haven't got someone else in mind?" I asked carefully.

Scorpius straightened up and shot me a dimpled grin. "No. I don't have my eye on any random girls in our year, or any other year for that matter. I have had enough of women dramas."

"On behalf of my gender – hey!" I protested, and Scorpius snorted with laughter. I was shocked at how easy this was – how we could laugh and joke and act just like the last few years had never happened.

"Hey, Rosie..." My heart fluttered when I heard him use the nickname he hadn't called me in so long. "Are you having any luck with that guy?"

I fought a grin. Merlin, he was so dense for such a smart guy. "Possibly."

I turned back to resume painting, and when I glanced to see where Scorpius was, he had vanished.

"Scor – ah!" I whirled around to find him standing centimetres behind me. My hand clutched at my heart frantically.

"Boo," he said, a tad unnecessarily. I scowled.

"You nearly gave me a heart attack!" I accused, and he laughed in a carefree sort of way.

"Sorry, Rosie."

"Why are you standing so close to me?" I wondered, hoping my calling him on his proximity wouldn't make him back off.

"I figured it out ages ago, you know," he informed me lightly. "I feel slightly ashamed that I didn't get it instantly. Maybe I'm thicker than I thought. I figured it out that night, though. Silver over gold? Can't look him in the eye? Okay, I was beyond dense for not getting it. A flobberworm would've got the hint sooner than me. And no, you can't get that in writing."

I just stared up into his stormy grey eyes, completely at a loss for words. He seemed to be the only person on the planet who had that effect on me.

"So... I'm asking... do you think you've patched it up with that guy?"

I nodded, still unable to speak.

"What took you so long to tell me, Rose?"

My lips formed words, and suddenly I found my voice. "I was afraid."

He was close enough that I could have counted his eyelashes if I wasn't so preoccupied. "Of what?"

"That you'd laugh in my face."

He rolled his eyes in a very Malfoy-ish gesture. "Yeah, Rose. I'd have busted a gut."

"You're laughing at me now," I accused, and he shrugged, allowing my comment.

"You're being silly. Hence the laughter."

"Scorpius... do you think that, maybe..."

"She wasn't that annoying," he blurted, and my nose wrinkled in confusion. "Sarah. She wasn't really annoying. I was just looking for an excuse to dump her, because she wasn't what I wanted. She wasn't who I wanted. But see, I have this total inability to tell people exactly what I want. Which is weird, because I spent seven years as a spoiled only child before Lena came along, and..."

I pressed my palm against his lips, cutting off the end of his sentence. "Shut up, please. You're like a budgie."

I felt him chuckle against my hand, and his breath warmed my palm.

I didn't remove my hand though, and he grew impatient. I just stared calmly up at him until I felt something warm and wet skate across the palm that was pressed to Scorpius's mouth.

"Gross!" I yelled, pulling my hand away and wiping it on the shoulder of his robes, grimacing the whole time. He burst out laughing. "You licked my hand!"

"Yup," he chortled. "You wouldn't get off."

"That is absolutely disgusting!" I continued to wipe my hand on a fistful of his robes.

"So you _want_ me to stick my tongue in your _mouth_, but I'm not allowed to lick your hand?" he asked, amusement colouring his tone. I scowled.

"That is so not the same thing."

He poked his tongue out at me, and then ducked out of the way as I lunged to hit him.

"Missed me!" he goaded, skipping behind the painting table with the agility of a great seeker. Which was precisely what he was.

"So help me, Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy..." I laughed, picking up my paintbrush and brandishing it threateningly at him. I accidentally spattered my own robes with paint, and by the time I had glanced down to check, and then returned my gaze to where Scorpius had been standing, he was no longer there. I blinked in astonishment.

A light tap on my shoulder made me turn around in time to see Scorpius lean down and softly plant one chaste kiss on my lips.

He pulled back with a crooked smile. "No tongue. You happy?"

Before I could speak, he was smirking at me as he removed the paintbrush from my unresisting fingers. "So we're still painting things blue?"

Our little moment had passed, but I suddenly felt like I was lighter than air. I smiled secretly to myself, and threw myself back into prefect duties.


	24. Accusations and Frustrations

**Scorpius**

_Sixth Year, Third Term_

I dropped into a spare seat in the library beside Rose, and she glanced up coldly. I recoiled in my chair. What was that about?

"Rose, are you okay?" I asked. We had been keeping up this 'trying to be friends with other intentions' stuff for a while now, and it felt good. It felt like things were finally heading in the right direction. Some people had even asked us if we had been going out, which I vehemently denied, because I wasn't sure what Rose wanted people to think yet.

So the sudden hostility was a bit confusing.

"Like you'd care!" she growled, and my eyebrows shot up.

"That time of the month again?" I joked, and she shot me a glare.

"No. You know why I'm not speaking to you."

If there was one thing worse than girls complaining about their weight – because they ALL do it and most of the time they look good anyway; I have a suspicion it's just an attention seeking scheme – it was girls expecting you to be psychic. I mean, please, there were a million and one things that Rose could be annoyed with me about, but I didn't deem any of them to be anywhere near dramatic enough to warrant this type of cold-shouldering.

"If I know, then why am I so confused?" I pointed out, and the look she gave me then could have incinerated a diamond statue, such was her burning anger.

"Scorpius, why is our entire year under the misapprehension that we're sleeping together?" she demanded. My eyes bulged. Whatever I had been expecting, it wasn't that. I frowned as I realised the implied accusation there.

"You think I've been spreading rumours around?" I asked flatly, so that my question sounded more like a statement.

"Who else would say it?" she challenged, her blue eyes widening slightly. She was annoyingly pretty, when I just wanted to be mad at her without stopping to appreciate her looks.

"Well... any single one of the jealous girls in our year? Or any of my friends, who just want to cause a bit of mischief? Or Albus... cause he's bitter that we're friends again? Or..."

"Don't you dare accuse my cousin!" she snapped, cutting across me. "And also, what makes you think that all the girls in the year are jealous? What makes you so great, Scorpius?"

I took a very deep breath and counted slowly to ten in my head, trying desperately to keep my cool. Rose had such a hot head – she flew off the handle at absolutely nothing. I didn't want to rise to her bait. And as for the jealousy thing... I didn't get why all the girls fancied me, but the fact remained that they did. I wasn't being bigheaded about it at all; I was only telling the truth. I didn't _want_ to be the centre of attention all the time, it just _happened_.

I didn't explain any of this to the feisty girl sitting beside me though. If the bull is already angry, it's best not to dance in front of it with a red flag.

"Rose, I didn't say that. And I'll be the first to assure everyone it's not true, don't worry."

Her face drained of colour, and now, instead of looking ready to tear my head off, she seemed close to tears. _What could I possibly have done now?_ I thought.

"So... what? You're repulsed by the idea of sleeping with me that much?"

I refrained from smacking my forehead against the table in exasperation, but it was a close call. I really couldn't win, could I? If I did say it... that made me a lying bastard. And if I deny it... well, that just makes me the regular kind of bastard. Wait, make that the regular kind of bastard that makes girls he likes cry.

"Don't be ridiculous," I scoffed.

"And now I'm ridiculous!" she huffed, crossing her arms tightly over her chest.

_Girls!_ "No, you're _acting_ ridiculously. You aren't ridiculous in general, just in this instance in particular." My patient explanation was worthy of a sainthood, I reckoned. Rose clearly didn't.

"Right, so it's ridiculous for me to be offended that you're utterly repulsed by me now, is it?" she demanded. I gritted my teeth.

"I'm not! I would sleep with you, if you were offering," I promised her, but that only seemed to piss her off more than before.

"Oh, so because I'm not offering, that makes me what, exactly?"

I sighed. "It doesn't make you anything, Rose. It's just... I didn't mean it like that. Don't be so touchy!"

"Well excuse me for being offended when someone basically calls me frigid!" she snapped.

"I wasn't!" I exclaimed, irritated.

"You implied it!" she growled.

"You are completely twisting everything I'm saying, and you're blowing what would be a really insignificant thing out of proportion!"

"Because I'm a girl, and girls are drama queens. And what's worse than a drama queen who doesn't even put out, right?"

She was fuming, but I had completely had enough. This was the last straw.

"You know what? You are the most difficult person I have ever met. God, Rose, you don't make it easy to love you, do you? You constantly have to push people away, and make up silly excuses, and just be... infuriating. I am done with it! Either you grow up a bit, or I'm walking away from you altogether, before I end up doing or saying something I really will regret. Come and talk to me when you manage to get off your high hippogriff."

And with that, I pushed my chair back and turned away from her.

"You're an arse, Scorpius Malfoy!" she yelled after me.

I just kept walking.


	25. Letting Go

**Rose**

_Sixth Year, Third Term_

"Scor!" I spotted a tall, blond figure moving in the general direction of the Great Hall and jogged after him. He stopped, and swivelled slowly to face me. His expression was patient, but not entirely welcoming. I guess I deserved that.

"Yes, Rose?" he asked in a businesslike tone. "Can I help you with something?"

I quailed slightly sheepishly. I had been acting like an immature idiot yesterday in the library, and I really wanted to apologise for taking my embarrassment out on him so viciously.

"I'm sorry I was such a bitch yesterday, but I was just embarrassed, and I... well, two girls in Hufflepuff had just accused me of being a slut, and I was already in a stress and... well, it doesn't really matter, the point is, I shouldn't have taken it out on you. I feel horrible about it."

"No," Scorpius agreed. "You shouldn't have taken it out on me. But that's fine, I accept your apology."

I breathed a sigh of relief. I had been tying myself in knots about that speech all morning. A grin flitted across my face.

"So... do you want to get some breakfast and take it down to the lake?" I asked cheerily. His expression remained carefully neutral, and that should have been my first clue.

"No, I don't think so."

I frowned in confusion. "Why not?"

"Because," he said, letting out an exasperated sigh. "I meant what I said when I told you I'd had enough of petty dramas. And I've totally had enough. You can never decide where you are, Rose, and more importantly, you never know whether you like me or not. So I'm going to decide for you. I'm fed up of all your stupid mood swings. I am going to be a Slytherin, and you are going to be a Gryffindor, and we will ignore each other in the same traditions as all Slytherins and Gryffindors have in the past."

I blinked in confusion, resisting once again the urge to burst into tears. "But... I don't understand..."

"That's not my problem. In fact, you aren't really my problem anymore. Just... stay out of my way."

I shook my head, not accepting his words.

"No! No way! You can't just quit on me like that!"

"Sure I can," he said coolly. "I just did. Hate me if you want, if that makes it easier. I don't give a crap. Just leave me out of all your stupid little hissy fits. I'm over it."

"Scorpius, I... I thought we were... no... don't... I said I was sorry..." I caught his wrist as he made to turn away from me, holding him in place. He couldn't walk away now. Not after... everything. I thought we were getting somewhere.

"All you do is make me unhappy, Rose. I can do so much better than you."

His words were worse than a slap in the face. How well I knew he could do better than me. My eyes filled up with tears, and they spilled over, rolling down my cheeks. I let them fall – what was the point in stopping them?

"Don't do this to me," I whispered in a tiny, broken voice.

His face was cold and impassive, his eyes like steel – soulless and robotic. "I already have. Just go away. I'm bored of you. So bored."

I was boring. He didn't care about me after all. No! No, I didn't believe that! He was just being a coward, he was running away from his own feelings! I knew, because I had spent the best part of six years doing the same thing.

"Scor, you don't mean that."

"Yes I do. I mean..." and here he leaned in close, as if to whisper a secret to me. "I could have a more fun time with pretty much any girl in the year. And I know they'd have sex with me. I fancied the challenge... but now it's totally not worth it. No sex is good enough to have to endure you for that long."

My eyes widened, and I jerked backwards as if he'd slapped me. The tears continued to fall, dripping down my chin.

"You... you bastard..." my words held no volume, and no conviction. I felt as if someone was slowly shredding my insides.

"Yup. I'm awful. And I'm kind of hungry, so can you do me a favour and get lost so that I can head in and eat my lunch in peace? I don't need a snivelly, drippy virgin hanging all over me like a rash while I'm trying to eat my cereal." He raised his volume on that sentence, so that everyone in the entrance hall stopped to stare at us both. They alternated between sympathetic glances and disgusted glares.

"I hate you," I whispered, my voice cracking.

"Good," he drawled, smirking. "Then maybe you'll finally fuck off."

He swung around with a swish of his robes and sauntered into the Great Hall, leaving me alone again. A sea of horrified faces stared back at me, until I felt someone slowly pull me into a hug. I didn't care who it was, I just wrapped my arms around their waist, burying my head in their shoulder. In front of everyone.

And I sobbed.

* * *

**Scorpius**

It was for the best. It really was. My legs felt like lead as I dragged them to my usual seat, and the people filing in behind me were giving me stares so contemptuous that I would have been struck down as though I had been kedavraed if looks really could kill.

I didn't mean any of that stuff. Of course I didn't. I had spent ages thinking about it last night. Hours. And it all made sense now – Rose was always miserable around me, because I made her miserable. It was my fault, and I didn't want to be the cause of that.

And surely it was kinder for me to let her go than to keep her where she was constantly unhappy, even if she didn't realise that that was what I was doing? I may have seemed like a world class arsehole, but it was done with the greatest of intentions.

Hopefully she'd be happier without me around to screw her life up. Hopefully she'd hate me enough now that she would stay far away, not testing my resolve again.

Maybe she'd get a boyfriend, and fall madly in love. That thought made my heart wrench in agony, but I swallowed my feelings. I wanted her to be happy, didn't I?

It was like the story I had read in the newspaper a few weeks ago, about the witch who lost her cat, and put up posters everywhere, only to find that the cat had been taken in by a little muggle girl whose father was away most of the time and whose mother had died when she was very small. And the witch had been all set to take back her cat, whom she adored, but she took one look at this kid's face and... she couldn't do it. She had to sacrifice her own happiness so that the little girl was happy instead.

If you love someone enough to let them go, you were a better person, right?

Sophie glanced up from her Daily Prophet as I sat down beside her, and her eyes widened as she took in my expression.

"Oh, Scor, what have you done?" she whispered in dreaded anticipation, and I hung my head.

"I let go," I whispered.

* * *

**A/N: And that is the end. I hope this explains why Rose detests Scorpius at the beginning of A Scorpius' Sting, and I shall briefly fill you in on what happens up til then. Rose's heart is totally broken, and she decides that she loathes Scor, just like he planned. He continues to love her, but is still under the impression that she is better off without him, so on the few occasions he needs to talk to her, he is vicious. Which makes Rose hate him all the more.**

**Really, this is all because they love each other. And Scorpius is a bit deluded – Rose isn't miserable because of him, she just has a really short temper and other contributing factors have always gotten in the way. **

**And Scorpius isn't really mean deep down. But I suppose there's a bit of self-fulfilling prophecy involved... if you tell someone they're a bastard enough times, they'll become a bastard. And he does, for a little while.**

**And in case you're wondering, Sophie Avery and Albus Potter are seeing each other on the sly. I haven't mentioned it because... well, none of the other characters know. If you've read A Scorpius' Sting, you'll know that that little relationship all works out for the best :D**

**Longest author's note ever. I just want to say a massive thank you to all my readers and reviewers who have stuck with Rose and Scor until the end, and you've really boosted my spirits with all your lovely comments. **

**You're all terrific!**

**PJ x**


End file.
